
“Emi Hilton did it AGAIN! This sweet, second-chance romance is a beautiful addition to any romance reader’s collection.” ☆☆☆☆☆ Author Fiona Keane



“Emi Hilton did it AGAIN! This sweet, second-chance romance is a beautiful addition to any romance reader’s collection.” ☆☆☆☆☆ Author Fiona Keane
Daxon gently pulling my hand away from my face was what woke me up. I let out a soft groan that had absolutely nothing to do with the pain radiating from my forehead and everything to do with the beast of a man sitting right beside me, taking care of me like he was my personal nursemaid instead of the biggest irritant in my life at the moment. Sadly, he’d put a fresh shirt on at some point while I slept.
“Please tell me you haven’t been sitting there watching me sleep like some creep,” I croaked. Man, he hadn’t been kidding about the adrenaline crash.
Daxon snorted and let go of my hand, more’s the pity. “No, of course not. But you were snoring so loudly you interrupted my work. Figured I’d wake you up and make you lunch. Anything to stop that incessant racket.”
I shoved myself up to sitting, ignoring the way that made my head pulse painfully. “I don’t snore. Just admit you have a protective streak a mile wide.”
The side of Daxon’s mouth threatened to pull up into a smile. “I do not.”
While he was in such a good mood—normally he’d be crossing his arms over his massive chest and snapping at me by now—I wanted to address the thing that had been bothering me.
“Daxon, I have to clear up something.”
He stilled, his expression instantly guarded. “You hate that ridiculous G-wagon too?”
I slapped his arm, mostly just to have a reason to touch him. “No! I love that car.”
He looked on the verge of smiling again, which might have been a record for almost-smiles in a conversation with him. “I always thought you had much better taste.”
“My late husband and I had a business arrangement.”
Welp, that wasn’t how I meant to address things, just blurting it out like that.
Daxon blinked, his jaw hardening. Clearly he didn’t want to discuss this, but I had to get it all out. I couldn’t have him believing that I’d cheated on my husband. That Daxon was just a convenient male. Like I did that sort of thing all the time. Like what happened between us meant nothing to me.
“We were never in love. We married as a business deal, agreeing that it would be an open marriage. He was always discreet and respectful about it, which I appreciated, especially after Ruby was born. We became friends, building a life together, but also separately. The night I slept with you was the day after he went into hospice care and we knew it was just a matter of time before he was gone. My world was being flipped upside down and I just needed to feel something other than lost.”
Daxon sat there staring at me, his face devoid of any emotion. I could feel waves of tension pouring off his body. I wanted to explain more while also snatching back every word I’d already said. This didn’t appear to be helping things between us. By being truthful, I’d somehow made things worse.
“We didn’t sleep together.”
I…was not expecting that response. “No? I could have sworn we did.”
“We fucked, kitten. There’s a big difference,” Daxon growled.
He stood abruptly, the movement of the couch cushions jarring my head. I swung my legs off the couch and tried to stand too. The room got fuzzy around the edges and I sagged backward.
With a bit-back curse, Daxon grabbed my arms and guided me back to sitting. He followed, settling next to me on the couch with at least a foot of space between us.
“For fuck’s sake. Take it slow. You know what, let’s take you to urgent care. You probably have a concussion.”
I waited until the black dots faded from my vision. “I don’t have a concussion. Callan already ran me through some tests for that and said I was all clear.”
Daxon frowned harder. “He could be wrong.”
I huffed. This man was infuriating. One minute he’s sweet and protective. The next he’s growling at me, demeaning that night two years ago. The same one that had stayed with me through the hard months that followed.
“I just haven’t eaten anything yet. My bagel is back in the car at the base of my driveway.”
More curses flowed as he stood again. “Stay there.”
I rolled my eyes. He sure loved barking orders. But he still didn’t get what I was trying to say. Maybe I didn’t even know what I was trying to say.
“I’ve only slept with two people in my whole life, so I’m sorry if I use the wrong terms.” Apparently I’d become a blurter. The blurtiest of blurters.
Daxon froze. Every single muscle the man possessed—and good gravy did Mother Nature gift him with so much of it—locked tight. I lifted my hand to pull him back, but left it there hovering in the air between us. For half a second I had the fanciful thought that if I touched him, he’d surely break.
He spun around finally, ignoring my hand in the air. His eyes were snapping, devouring my face. “You what?”
Oh, so now he wanted to have this conversation.
I pulled my hand back in my lap so quickly it sounded like I clapped for his ridiculously short question. “I slept with Anthony once. It was not long after we got married. We both thought we’d try it out and see if there was any chemistry there.” I grimaced. “There was not. We went back to being friends immediately, putting that little experiment behind us. And then…then there was you.”
Daxon scrubbed both his hands over his face. I wanted to reach up and smooth the dark slashes of eyebrows back down. Why did he have to look like a male model posing as a lumberjack? It was an unfair advantage when a woman was trying to think around him.
“I don’t understand any of this. You’ve had two one-night stands in your whole life? You were married, but kind of not really?”
I wobbled my head back and forth. That was about right. Crazy and crazier. That had been my life, which was why I’d sought out a small town I could sink into with Ruby. A place I could be normal for once. “Will you sit down for a second and just let me explain?”
He sighed and moved to sit back down.
“And not bark one-word questions at me?”
“I don’t do that.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I— You know what? I’m just going to sit here and let you talk. How about that?” Daxon leaned sideways against the armrest, about as far away from me as he could get and still be on the same piece of furniture.
“Thank you,” I said with no small measure of sarcasm. “I know our marriage wasn’t conventional, but it worked for us. I was a small-town girl with absolutely no money but a stubborn insistence that I’d make it in a big city. Anthony needed someone to go to awards shows with and business dinners. Our pairing made more sense than most Hollywood marriages. He was my friend, and I grieved when he died.”
I hadn’t meant for my voice to shake when I got to that last part, but I hadn’t been able to talk about Anthony’s death. I’d tried to be there for Ruby, but no one had been there for me.
Daxon reached across the couch cushions and grabbed my hands where they’d been twisting the blanket. His hand was warm, fully enveloping both of mine. He gave me a squeeze and held on.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said, his voice scraping across the inches that separated us. “Thank you for explaining. I, uh, have a bit of a hang-up about married women.”
I tried not to smile too hard. “I could tell. You looked ready to find your nail gun and nail my toes to the foundation.”
“Definitely wanted to nail you…”
My gaze shot over to his. “Are you flirting with me, Daxon?”
“I’m hurt it was subtle enough you had to ask.” His lips were doing that thing again. What would it take to make the man smile fully?
“It’s not you, it’s me.”
Daxon winced. “Ouch. That’s even worse. The pity excuse.”
I talked around the giggle. “No, it’s true. I’ve slept with two men, had one orgasm, and somehow mother a preteen with more attitude than me. I wouldn’t recognize flirting if the dick pic slapped me in the face.”
Daxon huffed what could have been the start of a laugh. “First of all, a dick pic is not part of flirting. And secondly, one orgasm? I’ll be forever wounded if you say that one wasn’t from me.”
Was it getting hot in here? Or maybe it was the low blood sugar combined with the blow to the head making me woozy. “It was definitely you.”
“Of course it was,” he said smugly.
I tried to pull my hands out from under his. “Jeez, ego much, Daxon?”
He held on tighter, somehow inching closer to me on the couch. “Not ego. Confidence. Maybe you need a refresher?”
He was so close I could pick up on the soap he used and the smell of wood. That combination would forever make my stomach swoop. And not because I was hungry. “Daxon!”
He shrugged, his thumb sweeping out a rhythm against the back of my hand. I could feel that touch everywhere. I really was pathetic, finding a simple thumb touch a source of pleasure.
“Would it be so bad? At least you wouldn’t be married this time.”
I was shaking my head before I’d even catalogued all the ways that would be a very bad move to make. Without even putting sex on the table, I was overwhelmed by this man. I could barely be around him without tripping, or putting my foot in my mouth, or having to come home and seek out my trusty vibrator. One drunken encounter in a dirty bathroom had made me obsessed with him for months. Sober, intentional sex might break me.
“Absolutely not. No. Nuh-uh.”
Daxon smiled then, the kind of slow smile you feel across your skin. Like the sun rising over the mountains and heating up your whole body inch by inch. “So what you’re saying is you’ll think about it?”
“No!” I shook my head so hard it started being a heartbeat again along my cut. “That’s not at all what I’m saying!”
Good God, the man could smile. I could be ruined by that smile.
Daxon squeezed my hands one last time and let go, getting to his feet. “Let’s go make some lunch and then we need to get Ruby from school.”
I stood, taking slow deep breaths this time so I didn’t pass out. “I can get her on my own. I just need you to drop me off at my car.”
Daxon led the way to his tiny kitchen. “Can’t.”
I sighed, trying to keep myself from eyeing his backside. He had a really lovely backside. “There you go with the one-word answers again.”
He stopped at the refrigerator and pulled it open to peer inside. “Can’t take you to your car because it’s already been towed to the shop. I texted Clyde while you were sleeping, in case you were worried all I did was watch you sleep.”
Well, shit. There he went again, doing something nice. “I assume Clyde is a tow truck driver and not a car thief?”
Daxon shot me a deadpan glare.
“In that case, thank you. Maybe you could drop me off at a car rental place so I can get a loaner?”
“Can’t.”
I threw my hands out to the side. “For fuck’s sake, Daxon!”
And that’s when I heard it.
A real live laugh from Daxon Hellman.
And it was everything I’d hoped it would be and more.
★✩★ NEW RELEASE TOUR ★✩★
Katrina
Christmas Quilt Brides Book 5
Genre: Contemporary Romance
By Annee Jones
Hosted by DS Book Promotions
AMAZON
Available on Kindle Unlimited
Blurb:
She knew the trip could be difficult, but she never imagined it’d change her life…
An unfortunate stagecoach accident leaves Katrina with no memory of who she is and where she was headed. The only clues to her identity are stitched in hand-sewn quilt, but to unravel them she must traverse across the countryside and find someone willing to answer her many questions.
Luke, the man who saved her after the accident and is now providing shelter for her, volunteers to travel with her. Their journey and those they meet along the way provide some clues, but unless she can stitch the pieces together, she may never learn the truth about who she is and why she was traveling on that fateful day.
Will she and Luke find the answers she so desperately needs or have memories faded and secrets remained intact?
Start the Series here:
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✩✩ COVER REVEAL ✩✩
When I Fall in Love
Ashleigh Lake Series Book 2
Genre: Contemporary Romance | Small Town | Second Chance
By Sophia Karlson
Release Date: February 14
Hosted by DS Book Promotions
Pre Order
𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆.
Hunter Logan
There are only two things that keep me going: my business and caring for my extended family. So the expansion plans I have for my ice cream company, plans that will set up my siblings and cousins for life, are very close to my heart.
When a major obstacle gets in the way, it rocks my world. Suddenly I’m scrambling to save my business, and the person who holds my livelihood in the palm of her hand is the girl who stole my heart sixteen years ago.
And never gave it back.
Beth is back in Ashleigh Lake, and this could be my second chance, but will I pick my family over the love of my life again?
Beth Anderson
The last person I expect to walk back into my life on a random weekday afternoon is Hunter Logan, the boy who broke my heart. And now he wants me to save his business and not sell the farm in Ashleigh Lake that I’ve inherited?
The best thing I can do is shut the book on Hunter and my past, but that won’t be easy. Not when he’s my next-door neighbor on my visit to Vermont to sign on the dotted line. And most definitely not when he goes out of his way to remind me of everything I once loved about Ashleigh Lake…him most of all.
WHEN I FALL IN LOVE is a second-chance romance written in first person, dual Point of View, set in small town Vermont and sure to give you a warm and fuzzy glow around your heart!
About Sophia Karlson:
Sophia is an award-winning author who writes sensual, emotional, and evocative contemporary romance.
When she’s not writing, she can be found binge-watching the latest TV series, walking the dogs, or planning the family’s next trip into the wilds.
She has a healthy addiction to tea, takoyaki (Japanese octopus balls), and chocolate.
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★✩★ NEW RELEASE TOUR ★✩★
Christmas CAT-astrophe
Holiday Pet Sleuth Mysteries
By Annee Jones
Hosted by DS Book Promotions
AMAZON
Available on Kindle Unlimited
Find the Series Find the Series Holiday Pet Sleuth Mysteries (10 books)
Blurb:
It’s beginning to look a lot like arson this Christmas season…
The Cat Café is buzzing with excitement this holiday season as they prepare for the Holiday Fur Ball & Silent Auction. As Tinsley and her crew put the finishing touches on the treats and decorations, she can’t help but daydream about the new animal shelter she hopes to build with the money from the auction.
The excitement soon fizzles, however, when a fire breaks out at the café with the fur babies inside. Thankfully, they’re rescued by firefighters and all safe and sound. But everyone at the Cat Café is shocked when the fire’s cause is determined to be arson. With the future of the new shelter now on shaky ground, Tinsley knows what she must do.
She must find the culprit before they try again. Even if she has to work with the handsome but know-it-all representative from the ball’s big tech sponsor, Nick Greenly.
Perhaps rescue cat Jingle and his feline friends may have some ideas that could help solve the case? But time is running out…can they pinch the Grinch before he or she ruins the Holiday Fur Ball and spoils everyone’s Christmas too?
Find out the fate of the beloved Cat Café and the new shelter and brighten your holidays by reading Christmas CAT-astrophe today!
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