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​Held captive by violent bank robbers, they must put the betrayals of the past aside and learn to trust each other again.
 
Sophie Reed is the top criminal defense attorney in Granite City. She champions the wrongly accused and ensures the justice system works for everyone. 
 
Detective Mateo Ramirez can’t believe he used to love Sophie. Everything she does is a betrayal of his work as a cop, but when she’s near his body reminds him of just how close they used to be.
 
When they are held hostage in a bank robberythey realize their attraction for each other has never diminished, but can they overcome their conflicting viewpoints and work together. 

Check out the June FREE for All & Giveaway 06/10 - 06/14 
Romance Authors are offering a whole lot of books... Most of them are FREE for a limited time.
Enter to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card just for subscribing to our newsletters or following us on social media.
Here's the link to the June FREE for All & Giveaway: http://lovekissedbookbargains.com/2019/06/08/june-free-for-all-giveaway-2/
​

Held captive by violent bank robbers, they must put the betrayals of the past aside and learn to trust each other again.
Sophie Reed is the top criminal defense attorney in Granite City. She champions the wrongly accused and ensures the justice system works for everyone. 
Detective Mateo Ramirez can’t believe he used to love Sophie. Everything she does is a betrayal of his work as a cop, but when she’s near his body reminds him of just how close they used to be.
When they are held hostage in a bank robberythey realize their attraction for each other has never diminished, but can they overcome their conflicting viewpoints and work together. 

Excerpt:

Heat coursed through Mateo’s veins as it always did whenever she was around. Her large, luminous green eyes, her upturned nose, and her smooth skin always disturbed him, throwing him off balance. He reined in his physical reaction. She was one of the most gifted lawyers he had ever encountered and could have had a career with any prosecuting attorney’s office.  But no, she had to practice as a defense attorney. It wasn’t logical, but it felt like she had betrayed him. It was as though she had gone out of her way to hurt him.
“You should’ve told Needham he’d mixed up the cases.”
She stared at him as though he’d lost his mind. “That’s crazy. It’s not my job to do his thinking for him.” She rocked back in her chair.
He either had to release his hold on the armrests or end up in her lap. He chose to stand. 
She placed her feet on her desk. The action made her skirt slip up her thighs, revealing the top of her stockings. 
He imagined running his hand over her pale, silky flesh. Back in the day, she’d had the sexiest underwear collection, and from the look of things, that hadn’t changed. Blood surged to his penis. He thumped the desk, burying his unwelcome attraction. “Bullshit. You have a responsibility—” 
“No. I have a responsibility to my client.” Her smug look told him she felt no remorse for letting a dangerous kid back onto the streets.
“You should at least have—”
“If you cared that much about the case, you should have gone to court yourself.” She crossed her ankles. Was it an intentional attempt to distract him? Maybe make him remember what it felt like to have her long, luscious legs wrapped around his waist. 
She gave him a knowing smile. She was playing with him. She knew he had a physical weakness for her and was using it to confuse him.
He shook his head, denying not only her charge, but also his own emotional turmoil. “It wasn’t my—”
“Bull.” She sat up straighter in her chair. Her skirt hitched farther up her legs. “You were off duty when you came upon the scene.” 
“We stopped to help a fellow officer.” He glanced at her breasts. Her nipples pressed against a plain white blouse that wasn’t sexy or revealing in any way, yet was somehow more enticing than her lace stockings. He licked his dry lips. He had to keep his mind on the case. “There’s nothing wrong with that?”
“Right, but why is your partner testifying in a case that clearly belongs to the patrolling officer?” 
He bent over her, closing the short distance between them so they were inches apart. “The kid was drunk.”
She lifted her chin, meeting his gaze, not backing down. “He’d just lost his mother. Where’s your compassion?”
His nose was almost touching hers. “Where’s your compassion for the woman whose house he wrecked when he swerved off the road and drove into it?”
“She has house insurance and she can sue. No one was hurt.” 
“What about next time?” He was very aware of her scent, honey mixed with apples. God, he wanted to taste her.
“There won’t be a next time.” She snapped out the words like a volley from a rifle.
“You have an answer for everything. If I had any sense, I would shut you up,” he replied in the same tone. Her body, her mouth, even his own anger, were getting to him. He should back away, but he couldn’t.
“I dare you,” she whispered, her lips almost touching his.

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The first is Harlies Books
Wow.  Just wow.  This book has it all.  Thrills, lots of suspense, romance, very fast paced, a plot line that makes perfect sense, and more twists than a mountain trail.  Seriously, this book is everything I’ve been craving in a romantic suspense book for a while now.  This book moves very quickly.  Don’t even try to catch your breath and be prepared to start it and have the need to finish it in one sitting.
David and Marie are some of the more mismatched people that an author can come up with as a hero and heroine.  Sure, we’ve all read the alpha Special Forces hero to the rescue of the naive, sheltered scientist but Ms. Kelly gives them qualities that they didn’t even think they had themselves.  Marie does not come off as helpless, just confused.  David is the biggest marshmallow and he knows it.  He just doesn’t like to admit it to many people.  Also, their backstories are powerful and lend themselves to the overall arc of the book and to the relationship.
I wish I could go into the plot with a lot of detail but that would spoil it.  Let’s just say that Ms. Kelly sets up the whole story up from the beginning with most of the major players in place.  You know the major plot points but Ms. Kelly has a way of throwing you off guard and decides she needs to add a person or two to really shake it up.  I’m looking forward to her other stories in this series to further explore that.  And yes, I can’t talk about it because, well, you just have to read the book and trust me, you will be gobsmacked.  In fact, in some ways, it’s still processing in my head.
I can not tell you how much this book meant to me.  It surprised me, left my neck hurting not to mention my fingers wrapped around my Kindle and can’t wait to dive into the next one in the series.  Ms. Kelly is just brilliant in her storytelling, characterization and taking the romantic suspense/thriller genre to a whole new level.  I can’t believe that I’m just finding out about her and the books that she has written.
Don’t do what I did and find out about her too late.  You will definitely be sorry and kick yourself for it.

The second is from The Reading Addict
Sun Storm by Marlow Kelly follows inventor and scientist, Dr. Marie Wilson, as she struggles to finally have her work validated, only to discover that her portable solar panel may be worth killing for. Forced to escape with a man whose loyalties are questionable, Marie must quickly determine who to trust with her very life, with a fatal outcome if she’s mistaken.

This romantic suspense story is the first book in ‘The Gathering Storm’ series and provides an exciting tension-filled read. There are delightful twists and I liked the way clues are gradually revealed, plus the hero is a war-wounded ex-military man who backs into the role of rescuer but is definitely up for the challenge. I was less impressed with the naivete of the brilliant scientist who can come up with such wonderful ideas yet has no idea about certain major issues in both her personal and professional lives. Many of the secondary characters are almost caricatures but I would definitely be interested in learning more about a certain couple of FBI agents. For me, the mysterious arch-villains seem a little over the top, and although I liked that one of the bad guys got his comeuppance, the scene strayed into territory that felt better suited to a 007 story. Despite these minor irritants, I enjoyed the story and the sometimes madcap interactions between the main characters and I recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting adventure.
​

There are two stops on this weeks review tour.
The first is The Avid Reader
"​Sun Storm is a very intense and suspenseful read that had me hooked from the first page. It started out with action from the beginning and didn’t let up until the very end. It had me racing through the pages rooting for Marie and David hoping that they were going to make it out alive. The suspense was so invigorating that it keep the adrenaline pumping.  

Sun Storm is great introduction into The Gathering Storm series. The characters are all so warm and welcoming drawing you into their lives and making you fall in love with them. You wish that you were there with them to give them a hand. I would love to see more of these characters in future stories. 

I would recommend Sun Storm to all fans of suspense or romantic novels with a whole lot of action."

The second is from Sharing Links and Wisdom

"This was a fun, straightforward, and action-packed adventure. We knew who the bad guys were and why they were doing this. While I’ll admit this did get a tad boring at times, the romance and unexpected details helped spice it up and keep me reading. For example, the scientific background of the story was thought out and plausible, rather than just being used as a plot device, which was a nice bonus. 

In addition, I liked Marie and David and their unusual initial meeting. I won’t spoil why, but let’s just say it’s not what I was expecting. Plus, the witty banter between the two was a nice counterpart to the suspense and action.

Overall, while the suspense sometimes hit some ups and downs, the overall story and characters provided a fun, light-hearted romantic suspense journey."

There are two stops on this week’s review tour.
The first, Locks, Hooks and Books
 
Sun Storm is my first introduction to Marlow Kelly’s writing. It, also, begins The Gathering Storm series. I had no problem having it read in a few hours. The suspense and mystery made me want to keep turning the pages to find out what would happen next with Dr Marie Wilson and David Quinn. 
 
I give Sun Storm four and a half stars. I look forward to the next installment from The Gathering Storm series. 

The second, Our Town Book Reviews
 
A really tough book to put down. This is a good thriller with lots of twists and turns. Marie is a child prodigy, a scientist trying to create another source of energy for us. A small mobile type of solar energy. One to help med units, army units, people living in the wild, well many, many things. Enough things to make the big companies nervous enough to make sure she can’t sell it. One of the guys that intends to make sure she can’t sell it was told she stole it and he intends to get it back for his company. David, a decorated soldier, has no idea that a killing is in the planning. 
 
This is a different sort of plot; maybe a little more modern than what you might be used to. Different enough to keep me reading and good enough to keep me guessing a little at who would be good and who would be bad. This is not a book with a huge amount of main characters although there are several characters involved. I had no problem knowing “who was who”, so to speak. I think that’s because Kelly did a very good job with defining her characters. Each seemed to have his or her own unique personality. There is a little romance in this book; not enough to ruin the book for me. It is more romance in the sense of desire than sex (can there be a difference for that). 
 
Sun Storm is Book 1 of a series titled “The Gathering Storm Series”. Marlow Kelly has several books published, all with good reviews.

​This is a review tour for Sun Storm. A $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC will be awarded to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. There are weekly stops with one review being posted today and two reviews each week until 26th March.
No purchase is required for entry.
All you have to do is visit these sites on the dates listed and enter the rafflecopter.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

Looking for a book where the action starts right off and never really slows down? This would be a very good choice for you!
Just a few pages into this story, our heroine, Marie, is alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere when four men with guns burst in through the door. She’s dressed in long underwear and nothing else, and does whatever she can to escape. Thankfully, one of the men has a change of heart when he realizes what they are actually up to, and helps.
I liked Marie right off. It’s funny, she has this idea that she’s a frightened, incapable woman (I blame this on her good-for-nothing father) but she manages to escape more than once from the people trying to capture or kill her. She’s smart and actually pretty darn fearless. I guess we never know what we’re capable of until we’re put into a situation where we have to step up or die. She was, thankfully, never stupid (okay, one time I questioned what she did, but…) and always smart and brave.
I like David, too. He really just wants to live his life off the grid in peace, but finds himself smack dab in the middle of trouble. Never one to take injustice lying down, he does everything he can to figure out who’s on his side and who isn’t, and to protect Marie.
The suspense portion of this book is pretty well spot on. Lots of action, lots of intrigue, never entirely knowing who’s a good guy and who isn’t (with some exceptions). The suspense and action kept me turning pages. I read this book in just a couple of days because it definitely held my interest. I was honestly surprised to find out one of the cops was not what I thought he was at the end. And I do hope to see the head of the Syndicate get their comeuppance (what a horrible sociopath that person turned out to be).
The romance portion took a little suspension of disbelief. It’s not that Marie and David didn’t have chemistry–the absolutely did. My big issue is, I’m not a fan of “instalove” and these two weren’t together long before they were madly in love with each other. I remember a line from the movie “Speed” where Sandra Bullock’s character says, “…relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last.” And I always wonder about that when I read this type of book. They meet while dodging bullets, the spend every minute running and dodging bullets and proclaim their love for each other in a few days. What happens when they settle down, raise bees, live a quiet life? Again, I honestly think these two will be fine because at heart they’re both really kind of quiet homebodies, but I probably would have been happier with a “happy for now” than an “HEA” in this case (and, since this is the start of a series, we could see the relationship develop some as the other books are released).
The thing I liked best about this book was the clear, strong relationship the friends had with each other. Clearly there is absolute trust between them, and each would do anything to help one of the others. I like Michael the best of the group (outside of David, of course), but Finn was interesting as well, and were their tidbits of a “twin bond” between Sinclair and David that might come up again? Only time will tell. I’m a sucker for character driven stories, and despite the action here, it was the strong, interesting characters that kept me reading.
This is a great start to what promises to be an intriguing series.

​This is a review tour for Sun Storm. A $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC will be awarded to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. There are weekly stops with one review being posted today and two reviews each week until 26th March.
No purchase is required for entry.
All you have to do is visit these sites on the dates listed and enter the rafflecopter.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.
To enter go to The Long and Short Reviews

Eight Steamy Romance Reads.
 
ONE ANTHOLOGY YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS.
 
Pure Textuality PR is proud to present SEDUCTIVE, an anthology which speaks directly to the romance lover in all of us. Featuring eight of today's best romantic storytellers, this anthology promises to deliver the love stories you crave.
 
FEATURED AUTHORS
Brea Viragh, Donna Mercer, Jade C. Jamison, Krista Ames, M.C. Cerny, Marlow Kelly, Michelle De Leon, RaeAnne Hadley

TOUR WIDE GIVEAWAY 
​
To celebrate the release of the SEDUCTIVE anthology, we're giving away one $100 Amazon gift card and five paperback copies of the anthology!
 
LINK:  https://bit.ly/2Duicvr
 
GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS: Open internationally. One winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card. Five winners will each be chosen to win a paperback copy of the anthology. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR.  Giveaway ends 3/31/2019 @ 11:59pm EST. Limit one entry per reader. Duplicates will be deleted. By entering, you agree to sign up for the newsletters of the eight participating authors and Pure Textuality PR's reader newsletter. ​​

​About Disturbance:

Held captive by violent bank robbers, they must put the betrayals of the past aside and learn to trust each other again.
 
Sophie Reed is the top criminal defense attorney in Granite City. She champions the wrongly accused and ensures the justice system works for everyone. 
 
Detective Mateo Ramirez can’t believe he used to love Sophie. Everything she does is a betrayal of his work as a cop, but when she’s near his body reminds him of just how close they used to be.
 
When they are held hostage in a bank robberythey realize their attraction for each other has never diminished, but can they overcome their conflicting viewpoints and work together. 

Excerpt:

Heat coursed through Mateo’s veins as it always did whenever she was around. Her large, luminous green eyes, her upturned nose, and her smooth skin always disturbed him, throwing him off balance. He reined in his physical reaction. She was one of the most gifted lawyers he had ever encountered and could have had a career with any prosecuting attorney’s office.  But no, she had to practice as a defense attorney. It wasn’t logical, but it felt like she had betrayed him. It was as though she had gone out of her way to hurt him.
“You should’ve told Needham he’d mixed up the cases.”
She stared at him as though he’d lost his mind. “That’s crazy. It’s not my job to do his thinking for him.” She rocked back in her chair.
He either had to release his hold on the armrests or end up in her lap. He chose to stand. 
She placed her feet on her desk. The action made her skirt slip up her thighs, revealing the top of her stockings. 
He imagined running his hand over her pale, silky flesh. Back in the day, she’d had the sexiest underwear collection, and from the look of things, that hadn’t changed. Blood surged to his penis. He thumped the desk, burying his unwelcome attraction. “Bullshit. You have a responsibility—” 
“No. I have a responsibility to my client.” Her smug look told him she felt no remorse for letting a dangerous kid back onto the streets.
“You should at least have—”
“If you cared that much about the case, you should have gone to court yourself.” She crossed her ankles. Was it an intentional attempt to distract him? Maybe make him remember what it felt like to have her long, luscious legs wrapped around his waist. 
She gave him a knowing smile. She was playing with him. She knew he had a physical weakness for her and was using it to confuse him.
He shook his head, denying not only her charge, but also his own emotional turmoil. “It wasn’t my—”
“Bull.” She sat up straighter in her chair. Her skirt hitched farther up her legs. “You were off duty when you came upon the scene.” 
“We stopped to help a fellow officer.” He glanced at her breasts. Her nipples pressed against a plain white blouse that wasn’t sexy or revealing in any way, yet was somehow more enticing than her lace stockings. He licked his dry lips. He had to keep his mind on the case. “There’s nothing wrong with that?”
“Right, but why is your partner testifying in a case that clearly belongs to the patrolling officer?” 
He bent over her, closing the short distance between them so they were inches apart. “The kid was drunk.”
She lifted her chin, meeting his gaze, not backing down. “He’d just lost his mother. Where’s your compassion?”
His nose was almost touching hers. “Where’s your compassion for the woman whose house he wrecked when he swerved off the road and drove into it?”
“She has house insurance and she can sue. No one was hurt.” 
“What about next time?” He was very aware of her scent, honey mixed with apples. God, he wanted to taste her.
“There won’t be a next time.” She snapped out the words like a volley from a rifle.
“You have an answer for everything. If I had any sense, I would shut you up,” he replied in the same tone. Her body, her mouth, even his own anger, were getting to him. He should back away, but he couldn’t.
“I dare you,” she whispered, her lips almost touching his.

Disturbance is only available in

​This post is for those of you who are thinking of starting the New Year doing a weight loss regime. I want to take this opportunity to say – YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. The scale tells you nothing of importance. It doesn’t tell us if you are a good person if you’re talented, and most importantly it does nothing to describe the music in your soul.
Increasingly doctors are starting to realize that your BMI (Body Mass Index) is not a good indication of health, especially for women. 
 
As I mentioned in a previous post, my own weight loss journey started when I was diagnosed with bone loss and was advised by my doctor to consume 1200 mg of calcium daily. I’m allergic to dairy, and although I take a supplement for 600 mg of calcium (the maximum safe dose.) consuming the remaining 600 mg was a challenge. Eventually, after many allergic hives, I figured that drinking two glasses of soymilk was the most calorie efficient way to go. Fast-forward six months and I were 10 lbs. heavier and none of my clothes fit. 

I’m not a great fan of weight loss fads or New Year’s resolutions for that matter, but I have always had success with Weight Watchers. Plus, I needed to figure out how drinking two cups of soymilk would fit into my daily regime.
As I mentioned in my September blog post, I joined Weight Watchers on 19th August 2018. 
A month later I had lost a total of 3.5 lbs. and I had stalled, which was disheartening considering I stuck to my daily total of 23 points. I used my weekly allotment of 28 points at the weekend, never going over. I religiously weighed myself every Friday morning, hoping the scale had budged just a little. I wanted to have something to show for all my hard work and sacrifice, but it had stopped moving.
To make matters worse, I was always hungry, and a hungry me is a cranky me. I seriously thought about giving up. Then one Friday evening I broke down. I ate everything. I didn’t count points. I didn’t work out, and I didn’t stop until Saturday night. I just relaxed, enjoyed the flavors, and the feeling of a full stomach.
Come Sunday morning I was ready to get on with counting points and sticking to the Weight Watchers plan. I dreaded my weigh-in the following Friday believing my weekend indulgence would have ruined all my work. Imagine my surprise to discover I had lost 2 lbs.
After some researched I discovered I had stumbled onto Cheat Day. This is a concept outlined in a post from Dr. Oz’s blog Cheat on Your Diet and Still Lose Weight
Here’s a quote:
“Tons of dieting experts agree that you should build in “cheat days” since too much deprivation can actually lead to more cravings, causing you to break from your diet. In addition, going off your diet once in a while stimulates the thyroid gland and can “wake up” your metabolism. Cheating in a sensible way will help steer you toward success in the long-term.”
I have now reached my goal. A week before Christmas I was down 10 lbs. I’m not slim, and I most definitely do not weight the same as I did twenty years ago, but I do fit into all my clothes, and that was my goal.
If you are planning to diet think about incorporating a cheat day into your week.