Release Blitz: The Deal by Micha Elliot

Book Title: The Deal - Billionaire Boardroom Book Two 

Author: Misha Elliot 

Genre: Contemporary Romance 

Release Date: January 31, 2017 

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

"He thinks he can just hold onto my money. Well I don't think so. I've never had a problem with getting a hold of it before. I'll show him. Just you watch."

What happens when an uptight CEO is tasked to tighten the purse strings of a willful heiress? Landon Cartwright has his work cut out for him. Will he be able to tame Bree VanOrmer or will she set him straight?

Bree stood and passed the coffee cup off to Valerie. Finally, the door opened. She smiled as she walked through the doorway of the conference room. Her eyes surveyed each face that set around the table, with measured smiles. Their greetings comforted her and reminded her she was among friends.

Before she had a chance to get comfortable in the chair and pull her thoughts together, she was already being addressed.

“Good morning, Ms. VanOrmer, how can we help you today?” An unfamiliar voice spoke. Her eyes moved about the room to the faces she had known before, but they all seemed to be looking for direction from this man. She couldn’t see all of him, but what she was able to view from her end of the room was breathtaking. Although she was only viewing him from the waist up, she was instantly drawn to those hands. He brought them up to brush the hair on his chiseled chin. Then she saw it. Those lips. Framed in a well-kept, trimmed beard were a pair of full, kissable lips. For just a moment longer she allowed her mind to wander and imagine how those lips would feel as they brushed against her own. Then down to the soft tender skin at the nape of her neck. Not wanting them to stop there, they would continue a path all the way down to—

“How can we help you, Ms. VanOrmer?” he asked again. In that moment, all of her rehearsed thoughts left her mind.

“Where is Mr. Jones?” she asked. Despite the long table coming between the two of them, she could easily see the annoyance written on his face.

“There have been a few changes around here, and now you’ll be dealing with me directly as I chair the board here. I’m Landon Cartwright,” he gestured with his hand, “now please tell us what we can do for you today.”

“Oh. Well… My friend has been in business for years and is very talented. And what I’m proposing is that you give me three million dollars for investment.”

“That’s a substantial amount for us to give. I’m sorry, ’your request is denied.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Cartwright. What if we researched and came up with a plan of business that would be of sound investment? Then we can discuss these options with Ms. VanOrmer next month,” one of the other board members suggested.

“I don’t agree with you at all. I think if I want to invest my money to help start up a friend’s expansion, that’s my business. You’re nothing but advisers. I’m tired of coming here asking for permission. You all sit behind a desk pretending to know what is best for me.” Her voice remained forceful and steady. There would be no way for the room to know she was secretly shaking inside.

“I’m sorry that you feel we are under qualified to handle your affairs. Fortunately, your father saw things differently, and before he passed, made sure we were here to address matters for you. So, if that is everything, thank you, gentlemen, for coming in. That will be all today,” Landon said as he briefly staring Bree down. He rose like a judge after passing sentence. Landon’s eyes were no longer on Bree as he addressed the board members to the right and left of him.

The gentle ease in which he took control of a room was impressive. Without saying one single word, he had the ability to get all the men in the room to see things his way. It was evident he was a man who was used to getting his way. What Mr. Cartwright didn’t know was that so was Bree VanOrmer. No, she may not have been an influential businessman, but she was a powerhouse in her own right and knew how to play the game of who’s in control. All she needed to do was to get him alone for a moment or two so she could get him to start seeing things her way, but her mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts. Thoughts that could get a woman in trouble when thinking about those eyes. The way it felt when his gaze pierced through her. That face. Eyes perfectly positioned, a good broad nose and a perfectly chiseled chin. Landon’s features were godlike in their beauty.

She mingled for a moment, waiting for an opportunity to catch Mr. Cartwright alone. Perhaps she could find a way to reason with him. For as long as she had been aware of the power of her looks, she’d used them to get herself out of trouble while in school or get her way with a bat of those long curly lashes of hers. Or the pout of her full, lush lips.

“Excuse me, Mr. Cartwright.” She tilted her head slightly, hoping to grab his attention.

“No need to be formal, Bree, it’s Landon.” The smooth, slick way he said her name was hot enough to melt butter. She knew this for fact, because she was having a definite reaction to it.

Misha Elliott sometimes M. Elliott is a romance author who uses writing as a way to entertain, release, and educate. She is a lover of life and reading. Once a northerner she now calls the Lone Star state home.

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Release Blitz: The Beauty by Ashlee Taylor

Book Title: The Beauty (The Beauty & The Thief Series) 

Author: Ashlee Taylor 

Genre: Romantic Suspense 

Release Date: January 30, 2017 

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

Art Gallery owner Emmeline Billings vowed to keep her parents legacy alive by helping struggling artists.

Having lived a shell of a life since their passing she finds her true self when other family members show their true colors threatening what she's built.

What she wasn't prepared for was the thief in the night.

Sebastian Stuart has lived a life in the shadows. He's watched Emmeline from those shadows grow into a beautiful woman.

Seeing her living a shell of herself, he's determined to help her. Sebastian re-enters her life when he can no longer stand by and watch.

He does the only thing he knows how to do - steals her heart.

I stood on the outside of her hotel room door, hoping that she would come after me. I was powerless to let it go any longer but I knew that I didn’t want to take advantage of her in her inebriated state. If she had come to me I would have stayed with her, I would not make the same mistake again. I waited twenty minutes before slipping into my room that happened that was next door to hers. I had gotten lucky with a woman at the desk during check-in, she didn’t ask any questions when I asked for that specific room. I prepared to say anything, even give her money in order to secure my spot close to her.

When I was in the comfort of my room, the silence was beyond deafening. I knew that my decision to leave her was the best, but now I wished that I hadn’t. I lay down on the bed rethinking my decision when I heard the soft noises that sounded like crying whimpers coming from the room next door.

“FUCK. I’m an asshole.”

Going over to the door that connected the two rooms, I opened my partition and began to work on her doorknob. Two clicks later, I was in her room. Emmeline lay curled up in the middle of the bed, she was still wearing the dress she had worn during our impromptu date. Kicking off my shoes, I climbed into bed with her wrapping my arms around her holding her tightly.
I was unsure how long we lay there together before I fell asleep. I just knew that where I was at that minute was where I belonged.

Ashlee Taylor has always loved to read. She was practically born with a book in hand. She even wrote short stories and vignettes for fun at age eleven.

As she grew up reading was put to the side but the book Fifty Shades of Grey brought back the love of the written word. Swallowing every book she could get her hands on while befriending authors. Eventually becoming a beta reader and helping authors work out critical scenes and plot progressions.

Through this process, Ashlee decided to write the stories in her head.

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Release Blitz: A Call to Heaven by Jo Kessel

Book Title: A Call to Heaven Author: Jo Kessel 

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Paranormal Romance 

Release Date: January 27,, 2016 

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

"Everybody’s loved, everybody’s lost.

Grief strips you raw and makes you feel as if you’re sleepwalking through life, like the pain will never go away.

I’m Amy Tristan. I’m no different than anyone else. I’ve loved, I’ve lost and it sucks. I’ve got a five-year old son and an abusive husband. My mother died six months ago and I miss her like crazy.

I’m the biggest skeptic when it comes to other-worldly stuff, so when I’m told that I can pick up the phone and call my mum in Heaven, I should disbelieve it, right? Wrong. I pick up that phone, because there’s nothing I want more than to hear her voice trickle into the receiver.

And you know what? It works. I get to speak to my mother. It’s a miracle. If only it could stay this way, with those calls just for me, but someone up on high wants me to choose three other people to make a call to Heaven too. Who should I pick? How can I trust them to keep the phone secret? Making the choice is agonizing - if I get it wrong, my calls will stop. I wish I hadn’t told Daniel anything. He’s this hot doctor that I’ve come to know. But doctors are scientists, and scientists are bigger skeptics than even me. He didn’t believe in the phone. He thought I should be admitted to a sanatorium. Telling him was either the best decision of my life, or the worst. I’ll let you decide…"

Everyone’s looking at me. I’ve got the yellow telephone in my hands and I’m not sure what to do with it. I take a seat at the end of the table and lay the phone down in front of me. Beth is to my left, Ben is to my right. Daniel is opposite me. I look from one to the other and feel color flood my cheeks. My gaze finishes on Daniel and stays there for a beat. He nods, his eyes encouraging me. I return the nod, take a deep breath and count down from three to one in my head.

“I’ve got to tell you all something.” My voice comes out as a thin squeak, but actually I’m surprised I manage to articulate at all. I’m hot, so hot. I lift the hair off the back of my neck, flapping it around to try to cool my sticky, clammy skin. I can’t breathe, I need air. I unlock the patio doors, flinging them wide open. The inside of my mouth feels rough as sandpaper. I’m desperate for a tall glass of water packed with ice-cubes but, when I turn to see six eyes staring at me, I dare not leave to fetch one. I feel like an exhibit in a museum and in some ways I wish I were. I could hide behind a Perspex box next to the yellow telephone with panel blurb doing the explaining for me. I could be part of a new exhibition entitled ‘Incredible Discoveries’. I would share the same hall as the dinosaurs and anything else which took aeons for people to believe existed. I draw a deep breath and continue.

“You’re probably going to think I’m mad, but I’m going to tell you anyway.”

A breeze blows through the open patio doors.

“What I wanted to tell you is this.” My voice is soft as a whisper. I sense all their bodies leaning closer towards mine, straining to hear. “I’ve recently started talking to my mother.”

There, I’ve said it.

I feel a great sense of relief, both that I’ve said it and that I no longer have to keep this to myself. Beth relaxes in her chair with a sigh, leans across and takes my hand, patting it. She’s got wavy brown hair and a kind, open face. She tilts her head sympathetically.

“Oh honey, you must have tried out that clairvoyant you mentioned. Please tell us all about it.”

I should have seen that one coming.

“No, you don’t get it.” I lift up the yellow phone, as if to demonstrate how to use such a contraption. In one hand I take the receiver, in the other the plug. “I don’t speak to her through a medium. I speak to her on this telephone. I plug it into a socket in my bathroom and I’m allowed to call heaven.”

There, I’ve said it now.

Nobody moves.

Not a muscle.

Their mouths all open, Daniel’s is the widest. I don’t think any of them even realize they’re doing it. As feared, they are looking at me like I’m certifiably insane.

“I can see you all think I’m mad.” I actually manage to pull a small smile. Now that I’ve started, I feel much calmer. “And, if I were in your position, I would think I’m crazy too. But one night my mother came to me in a dream and told me I could use this phone to call her in heaven and, bizarre though it must sound, it turns out she was right. That’s why I stopped coming to Grief Support Group every week. I wasn’t grieving so much because my mother had come back into my life.”

The three pairs of eyes grow wider and wider, as if I’m slowly sprouting four serpent heads. I replace the receiver back into its cradle and drop the plug, holding out my hands in submission.

“You can believe me or not. It doesn’t matter. But the reason I’ve gathered you all here is because I’ve been asked to choose three other people to call to heaven.”

I sound like a fairy godmother or the good witch in the Wizard of Oz. I do not sound normal. I pause. The effect is dramatic although it’s not intended to be.

“And I’ve picked you guys.”

I look at them one by one.

“Beth, I know how much it might mean to you to be able to speak to your daughter and know that she is safe.”

Beth nods. Her gaze turns glassy.

“Ben, I’d do anything to be able to give you a chance to speak to your brother again.”

Ben nods, his mouth still formed in a perfect ‘O’.

Daniel is the hardest one for me to look at. He’s not nodding anymore and his eyes are no longer urging me to continue. Instead he’s shaking his head, a slow, subtle movement, but I catch it all the same. His full lips have now formed a thin line. He’s the only one who looks like he still thinks I’m certifiably insane. Hell, he’s a doctor; perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Part of me wonders whether I should abort this whole escapade and pretend it was all a joke. I’d do anything to not have Daniel stare at me in this way. He looks ready to call the local sanatorium and send them round with a straitjacket. But I can’t abort and I must continue. What happens next is up to him.

“And Daniel, I thought that maybe you might like to speak to Katie.”

He opens his mouth as if he’s about to say something, but clamps it shut again without speaking. Nobody else says anything either. They all shift in their seats, pretending to take sips of coffee and look around the room. Perhaps they’re checking out the photos on the mantelpiece above the fireplace, trying to work out if I look like a madwoman in any of them. I pick up the knife. Now I probably do look mad or, at the very least, dangerous.

“Right, who’s for some more pie?”

Jo lives in London with her husband, three children and Jerald the cat. In addition to being a novelist she works as a TV and print journalist (Sunday Times, The Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Express.) If she could change one thing about her life it would be to introduce the thirty hour day, because twenty-four hours just isn’t long enough to squeeze it all in! Many a late night has been spent with a glass of red wine (preferably French) at her desk trying to keep her eyes open long enough to write these stories which keep demanding to be written. If only her cat didn’t constantly jump onto the keyboard as she writes, this book might have been finished months earlier. She loves yoga, skiing, travelling and English custard - though not necessarily in that order.

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