">
It's day two in the Merry Menage Giveaway Hop and we are going to get musical with Shelli Stevens...
I love the holidays. I want to bask in the music,
decorations, and overall festiveness of it all for months on end. I confess, I
bring out the Christmas music mid-November. Right after my daughter’s birthday,
but before Thanksgiving.
I even workout to Christmas music. And today, I’m sharing a
list of my favorite songs that get me up and going on the treadmill. Try it!
You won’t regret it :P
Wizards In Winter by
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
All I want for
Christmas is You by Mariah Carey
Happy Christmas by John
Lennon
Sleigh Ride by Ella
Fitzgerald
Amen by Take 6
The Nutcracker Suite
by Brian Setzer (From Elf)
Christmas Sarajevo by
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Do they Know Its
Christmas by Band Aid
Pennies From Heaven
by Louis Prima
Someday at Christmas
by Stevie Wonder
Purple Snowflakes by
Marvin Gaye (cool down song)
Shelli has a new release just out November 27th just in time to put on your holiday wishlist...
Someone wants her. And someone
else wants her…dead.
If life as a not-fully-human has
taught Agent Grace Masterson anything, it’s that she’ll never again be anyone’s
sitting duck. Whoever is deftly evading the traps around her remote sanctuary
outside Seattle, she intends to shove his easily sensed self-confidence way,
way up where the sun don’t shine.
When she comes face to face—and
body to body—with Darrius Hilliard, relief and lingering guilt over past
choices weaken her knees. Plus something bad. Really bad. A surprising, intense
desire for her fellow agent.
Darrius knows what Grace needs,
and it’s not the kid-glove treatment. If she’s ever to overcome her past trauma
and return to full active duty status with the P.I.A, she needs a strong
shoulder. Yet he’s shocked at how quickly he’s become physically and
emotionally entwined with her.
Fighting their growing attraction
to one another becomes secondary, though, when it becomes clear that someone
not only isn’t thrilled at Grace’s return, they want her gone. Maybe even dead…
EXCERPT
It was a little hard to focus
with Grace wearing her pajamas—pink plaid boxer shorts and a skintight tank
top. She’d obviously showered. Her hair, still damp, hung in loose, dark waves
down her back. And she smelled sweet. Whatever soap or lotion she wore had to
have some kind of cinnamon scent to it.
Every breath he took in just
upped his awareness of her—made him want to gather her into his arms and press
his lips to the curve of her neck. He needed to find out if she tasted as sweet
as he knew she would.
Knowing she waited for his reply,
he finally settled for saying the only thing that he could think of. The only
thing neutral. “I figured you might want to talk about what happened today?”
He watched the tension invade her
body, the wariness flicker in her eyes.
“Which part?” She pulled away
from the counter and held up her hand. “Actually, don’t answer that. You
figured wrong. No, I don’t want to talk about any of it.”
She walked past him, away from
the bedrooms and toward what seemed to be the living room.
His gaze unwillingly slipped to
the curve of her ass, and his blood rushed south. His jaw flexed as he took in
the long, pale legs that ended in bare feet. Feet that were nearly running
through the plush carpet to move away from him.
“It’s late. You shouldn’t be here
anyway.”
He caught up with her and grabbed
her arm, swinging her around. “You think I don’t know that?”
“So why are you here?” There was
desperation in her voice now, as if she dreaded the confrontation that had been
building.
“I don’t know. I don’t fucking
know. I just found myself driving here instead of home tonight.”
“Okay, you know what? Not an
acceptable answer.”
“Maybe not. But here’s what I can
tell you.” His fingers slid over the soft skin of her upper arm, holding her
still as she tried to pull away. “There was this cute blonde at the bar tonight
and we were in her car. She was all set to let me fuck her.”
Shock flared in her eyes, and
then disappointment, before her gaze turned hard and cold. “What, is crude the
new charming with you, Hilliard? Look, I don’t doubt you can get laid. No one
is going to dispute that,” she ground out, “but I don’t need you to show up at
my house to give me a blow by blow, okay?”
“I think you do need to hear
this, because you’re part of the damn problem.”
She stopped trying to pull away
and let out a growl of fury, going toe to toe with him now. She was several
inches shorter than him, but she could intimidate the hell out of most people.
But instead of intimidating him,
the anger and passion in her gaze lit a spark to the embers inside him. Made
what little control he’d had when he arrived, snap.
“I am not part of your
problem. If for some reason Little Hilliard didn’t want to get up and play,
they have convenient blue pills for that. So why don’t you go bum one off your
dad and hightail it back to the bar and finish where you left off with your
blonde friend?”
Hilliard stared at her for a
moment, letting the words sink in with disbelief. And then he laughed.
“You think I…” He shook his head
and laughed harder, but it wasn’t really driven by amusement. More so
frustration. “I didn’t sleep with the woman, because I couldn’t even kiss her
without thinking about you.”
That shut her up. Grace sucked in
a breath and she seemed at a loss to say.
“But I tried.” His jaw flexed.
“Because wanting you is a damn inconvenience, Masterson.”
Again she didn’t say anything,
but he didn’t miss the dilation of her pupils or the way her breath quickened.
He released her arm and used both
hands to push back her hair over her shoulders before cupping her face. “I’m
tired of running from this. So why bother trying anymore?”
Realization flickered in her
eyes. “Hilliard, don’t you dare.”
Too fucking late. The wolf inside
him had taken over the reins and was playing the game his way now.
He pulled her hard against him
and covered her mouth with his. Expecting her knee in his crotch, he was
shocked when instead her fingers curled into his shirt and she tugged him
closer. She wasn’t fighting him, but again matching him with everything she
had.
Shelli Stevens has offered up a $10 Amazon Gift Card to one lucky winner who fills out the Rafflecopter. Wish you all luck and Happy Hopping! xoxo
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Oh there are so many to choose from but for non-alcoholic it is definitely Peppermint Mocha.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the giveaway!
Happy Holidays,
Marlena
charmedpoms(at)yahoo(dot)com
Eggnog Chai Tea Latte-definitely! However, I'm a sadist-I only allow myself one a year. Eggnog is so bad for me, but oh so good, especially with chai. Thanks for all the great giveaways.
ReplyDeleteCia
anordwell@live.com
My favorite holiday drink is eggnog. I add a little Kahlua to give it a kick!
ReplyDelete