Archives

ARC Junction July 30-August 6

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Want a freebie? Willing to write an honest review and plaster it everywhere you can? Check out the list below and see what tickles your fancy.

Heat rating (provided by submitting authors):
* Sweet
** Sensual, but closed door
*** Sexy, doors open
**** Crazy, wild, and in detail

Rock Star

***A Gift To Be Simple by Christa Maurice

 

Sci Fi

***Reckless Rescue by Rinelle Grey

 

Fantasy

***Twin Curse by Rinelle Grey

 

Suspense

**Gathering Clouds by Sandra Kerns

 

PNR

***Bait by Annie Nichols

***Ravenous by Annie Nichols

 

Billionaire/New Adult

***Swept Away, Volume 1 by Jennifer Haymore

 

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Forward Pass by Desiree Holt

ForwardPass

Forward Pass (Book One: Game On)

It’s never too early or late to play the game.

 

Shay Beckham grew up idolizing her brother’s best friend, star quarterback Joe Reilly. There was no one in their Texas town who had the moves to match Joe on or off the field. Years later, he’s still a player who has what it takes to drive any hot-blooded woman wild. But Shay isn’t a kid with a bad case of hero-worship anymore. She’s grown-up and independent, with her feet on the ground and a serious head on her shoulders. If she could just say the same for Joe.

It’s been fifteen years, but Joe Reilly hasn’t forgotten the skinny little kid who used to follow him around like a shadow. What he can’t get over is that the skinny shadow has grown into one hell of an incredible woman. One any man in his right mind would kill to get his hands on. And one who seems to be completely immune to him. He knows he and Shay could have something special together. If he could only convince her he’s about more than just the game.

 

Excerpt:

The taxi moved forward with a jerk and Shay’s eyes popped open. She leaned forward and tapped the driver on the shoulder.

“Did they clear away the wreck? We’re finally moving, right?”

“Yes, miss.” He shrugged. “But slowly.”

She rotated her neck, trying to work out some of the kinks. She’d been sitting in uncomfortable seats since she got in the shuttle to the airport and every muscle in her body ached. The hot shower was looking better and better. Or maybe she’d fire up the hot tub Hank had installed on the rear deck.

Hopefully, with all this delay caused by the wreck, by the time she got to the house Laura would be packed and gone. They pulled off the interstate and she mentally crossed her fingers and silently chanted, Let her be gone. But bad luck was still with her. When they turned onto her street and she spotted the car parked in the driveway, she swore under her breath. Laura Whoever was still here. Well, she’d better be getting ready to leave. Shay was in no mood to put up with bullshit. Sighing, she hauled her suitcase into the house, closed the door, and headed through the living room to her bedroom.

And stopped.

A hissing sound came from the shower in the bathroom connected to her bedroom and the guest room. Damn it! The least Hank could do was tell his little friends to use the master bath and leave hers alone. He had, after all, promised her that she’d have complete privacy.

“I travel a lot,” he’d told her. Then grinned. “And I’ll keep the sleepovers to those times you’re in New York.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So how come this female hadn’t gotten the message she was supposed to be gone?

Crap! The door wasn’t even closed. Clouds of steam billowed in the bathroom and obscured the figure in the frosted-glass shower enclosure. Okay, enough was enough.

Shay stepped into the bathroom and banged her hand on the glass.

“This is my bathroom,” she ground out. “I’ve had a tough day and you don’t want to mess with me. Next time use Hank’s bathroom. This one is off-limits. Get your ass out of here in five seconds, or I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

She turned away, not the least bit interested in a glimpse of Laura Whoever’s nudity. She just wanted her out of the house.

The water stopped and the door slid open.

“Okay. I don’t want to cause you any more stress. But Hank said I should use this one.”

The deep voice shocked her and she turned around before she even thought about it. And nearly swallowed her tongue. A very wet, very naked Joe Reilly stood in her shower stall, grinning at her.

Just when she’d finally made up her mind to stop thinking about him and obsessing over him.

At that exact moment her cell phone chimed. A message from Hank.

“BTW, Joe’s in town, Take good care of him.”

 

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Agent Taylor

Surface Tension

Poor Agent Taylor. Originally based on a hapless version of Fox Mulder from The X-Files, he just can’t catch a break. He knows Max is up to something, but all he can get out of Max is a fake slob story and some really awful coffee. His mother thinks he should ask Rachel out, but she’s part of his investigation and to have her means letting the investigation go. What to do?

Who doesn’t have a little surface tension now and then?

Surface Tension

Rachel doesn’t believe in Little Green Men, but she’s got a serious thing for Max. Wait, make that Rachel doesn’t believe in Little Green Men until her dog catches one in the woods.

Max really likes Rachel, but what woman is going to want a guy totally obsessed with aliens? Then she turns up on his doorstep with an injured Extraterrestrial Biological Entity. Now they have to figure out how to help the alien without tipping off the FBI agent who has been surveilling Max.

Ranley is just hoping to survive overprotective dogs, stupid co-workers and well meaning superiors and get out of this situation with a couple of cool scars and a nice cushy lecturing job in Zenoexobiology.

Alan’s Sponsor

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Marty started out as Randolph Mantooth if he had gone down a very dark path while simultaneously being much more successful. Alan needed a sponsor and it seemed logical that his sponsor would also be in show business. Plus, anytime I can model a character on Randolph Mantooth, I’m happy. Because I also bear a life long crush on Marty Milner, who starred on another Mark V show, Adam 12, I stuck him with the name Marty. He really wasn’t supposed to be that big a character, but I needed something to go right for poor Angie late in the story and since I had this television producer roaming around I roped him, putting Angie on his radar for a part in the sci fi show he’s shooting in Vancouver.

 

By now it’s pretty obvious I watch too much television. Marty’s show that he’s developing and starting to shoot by the end of the story is based heavily on Stargate SG-1. I really loved the character of Dr. Frazier on SG-1 and still cry every time I watch the episode where she dies. (Is that a spoiler? Sorry.) I liked it so much that I’ve hunted down other movies and shows that the actress, Teryl Rothery, has been in. My favorite has to be the Hallmark Christmas movie Battle of the Bulbs. She was also good in the Sy Fy Channel series Eureka in the one episode she appeared in.

 

So thanks to Alan needing a sponsor I got to write Randolph Mantooth, with a nod to Marty Milner, helping out my heroine by giving her Teryl Rothery’s recurring part in a show very much, but not exactly like Stargate SG-1.

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Broken Birds

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Through the glass door, he saw Angie running a vacuum and talking to a little girl with dark skin and long glossy curls who looked about Terry’s age. She wore a yellow apron over jeans and a white t-shirt and had her hair in a ponytail. Yesterday, she’d been dressed up and made up, but she looked even prettier like this. She looked really comfortable with the kid too. He grabbed the door and yanked. His fingers slipped off the handle. The nail on his middle finger snagged and sharp pain jabbed underneath.

“Son of a bitch.” He inspected the finger. The nail had torn down below the quick and was bleeding at the corner.

The door flew open, smacking him in the head.

“Ow.” He jerked back a step, reaching for the spot where he’d been hit. This was not the way he’d wanted to arrive.

The little girl Angie had been talking to clapped her hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she wailed.

“Alan, what happened?”

“I was only trying to help.” The little girl grabbed Angie’s hand, her voice panicked. “You said he was your friend. I was only opening the door.”

“It’s okay, Jaz.” Angie patted the little girl with one hand while reaching out for Alan with the other. “What happened?”

 

For a brief time, I worked in a day care and it was the single most depressing job I ever had. The girl I based Jasmin on actually did live with her aunt because her mother had fooled around with the aunt’s husband to get pregnant, then the mother ODed and the husband/father went to jail. Another girl had the most terrific temper. It was some kind of chemical imbalance and when she lost it, she was dangerous. I could help her control the temper, but it was hard work that required me to be entirely focused on her and ignoring the other 11 kids in my care for the duration. Another girl was the oldest of three, but her younger siblings were to the current husband and her father wasn’t in the picture. She lived Cinderella. A three year old at the center bonded with me and would scream if I left the room and she wasn’t allowed to go with me. I had the 6-12 class, but I frequently had this one little girl along just to keep peace. This adorable doll-like child never spoke and rarely smiled. Her mother had been diagnosed schizophrenic shortly after the child’s birth. The parents lost the kids to foster care and they ended up being bounced from relative to relative. Her older brother, who was five at the time, never shut up. And then there was the day that one of the kids I considered average announced that her father had died the day before. He had abandoned the family years before and she didn’t know how to grieve for a man she didn’t know.

I tend to attract the broken birds when I teach, but this job had so many.

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