Red, Unmasked, and Scarred by Trista Jaszczak

Title: Red: Naughty Ever After #1

Title: Unmasked: Naughty Ever After #2

Author: Trista Jaszczak

Genre: Twisted Fairytale / Erotic Romance 

Release Date: February 14, 2018

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?...

Samantha Wentworth has one mission in life: to get as far away as she possibly can from her troubled past. When she finds herself on the Louisiana bayou, she runs straight into the arms of a very sexy Big Bad Wolf that she just can’t seem to resist. Will Samantha continue on her journey, or does the full moon have other plans in store for her?

Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life...

In Blair's case it just so happens to be a pair of $8,000.00 shoes. When she's given the chance to go to a masked ball to celebrate the rock band, the Huntsmen's latest album release her two fairy godfathers flip her life upside down. She doesn't believe that it could ever end in a one night stand with a rock star...and a lost $8,000.00 shoe...but it does. All Blair can think about is the mess she's gotten herself into and all prince of rock Hunter can think of is finding the woman he spent a night with, even though his only lead is a single, red-bottomed shoe.

Title: Scarred: Naughty Ever After #3

Author: Trista Jaszczak

Genre: Twisted Fairytale / Erotic Romance

Release Date: February 28, 2018

Who could ever learn to love a beast?...

Eric Morris had his priorities straight. Money, motorcycles, and models. That is until a motorcycle accident leaves him permanently scarred and angry with the world. He finds comfort in isolation, refusing to leave his own home for fear of what the world will think of the once beautiful man. With working beginning to pile up he has no choice but to hire a personal assistant to cater to his every need, including taking the force of his attitude. What he doesn’t realize is that Elle Davis is not like other women and she fully intends on putting Eric right into his place. Will Eric be able to make her see through his scars…will he be able to change for her?

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RED

I close my eyes tightly, only to hear Ethan’s voice demand, “Look at me,” in my ear. 

I obey as I feel my body climax quickly. I let out a scream that surely frightens off anything else in the woods in a nearby radius. Ethan’s lips curl up, pleased, just before he leans in to smash his lips to mine. The kiss is all but brief and leaving me wanting more before his head yanks back and a low groan leaves his lips. His head leans forward to find my shoulder. His breathing is deep and ragged as he works to steady himself and brace me. 

My trembling and weak body finally begins to relax as it settles on me what has happened. Ethan finally raises his head to lock eyes with mine. His eyes have changed. They seem softer. Relaxed and completely satisfied. I can’t even open my mouth, despite having tried. He holds his stance and keeps me in place as my body shivers. 

“You’re cold,” I hear him murmur. 

I manage a slight nod. 

He smiles, plants a kiss on the center of my forehead, and begins to reluctantly move.

UNMASKED

“What’s wrong?” I ask, trailing into the room.

Christian is firmly planted on the employee couch with the television turned on. “I think you need to see this.” His eyes grow large as he points at the screen. I turn to face the TV and have one more sip of tea. He’s watching some celebrity gossip news show that I don’t quite recognize. What I do recognize, however, is myself from the masked ball plastered on the Times Square jumbo screen with the caption, “Have you seen my Cinderella? Cinderella, please find me again. Love, Hunter.”

I feel the cup slide from my hands and it crashes to the white tiled floor, spilling my tea everywhere. My mouth drops open and I have no idea what to say or do.

“I’m in the middle of Times Square!” I yell.

Christian gives me a silent nod as I hear the bell of the front door. I know that I should go to the sales floor, but I can’t. My eyes are glued to the screen, and my legs have somehow frozen in place.

“Blair! Christian!” We both hear Anthony who seems to be running towards us. He bursts through the break room door and glances at the mess on the floor. “Oh my God. You’ve seen.”

“I’m in the middle of Times Square!” I exclaim again as my head whirls.

SCARRED

I feel my mouth drop open slightly as I gawk at him. Makes me wonder what he’s talking about and if I can be nosey and pry just for a bit. I just have no idea what to say. I continue to stare with a slightly open mouth as I rock back and forth on my bare feet. I feel a chill run down my spine that makes me shiver and I immediately pull the white robe around me tighter. I watch Eric as he swallows and drags his hand down his face. He looks up at me with a pout. 

“I think I’m still trying to figure out why I had the accident. I certainly didn’t plan it. It just…” His voice fades off and he shakes his head. “I should have died that day.”

I give my head a little shake. “It wasn’t your time.”

“Do you really believe that?”

I chew on my lip softly for a second as I think things over and finally give a little nod. “I do. Clearly you weren’t meant to die on that road that day, Eric.”

He moves closer to me, so close that I can feel warmth radiating off his body. Another chill rushes down me and I hug myself tighter. I look up at Eric who is staring intently at me. “What did Lucian do to you?”

“It just didn’t work out.” I shrug. “We tried, he…I just wasn’t right for him.”

“He wasn’t right for you, you mean?” I feel the blast of warm air and smell of peppermint of his breath. 

I feel my body give a little shudder as Eric seems to lean a little closer to me. I can hear each breath he takes as he begins to study me again. I keep my eyes forward, a little nervous to look him in the eyes. I stare ahead at his neck and begin counting his heartbeat as I see each pulse throb…one, two, three, four, five….

“I’m just trying to figure you out.”

I giggle. “There’s nothing to figure out.”

“I’m willing to bet that there’s a lot more to you than you let on.” He tells me pushing my hair off my shoulder.

I shake my head. “I really hate to disappoint you. I’m pretty much an open book.”

His lips twist up at the corners. “An open book, huh?” 

I take a deep breath in and smell nothing but the sweet peppermint from his mouth. He’s standing incredibly close and I hadn’t noticed him take a step forward. 

“If you’re such an open book then why don’t you tell anyone what Lucian did to you?”

My mouth drops. What exactly is he trying to get out of me? The fact that I fell a little too hard and fast for Lucian and ended up having him crush my heart? I’d rather not take a trip down memory lane, thank you very fucking much. 

“Elle,” Eric’s voice grows soft as he leans down very slowly. 

I look into his eyes. I can’t think. I can’t speak. The smell of peppermint is intoxicating. My surroundings become blurry. I part my lips slowly and I feel my eyes begin to close. 

“Eric.” Lucian’s voice makes me gasp and jump back as he walks into the room. “I just wanted to see if you were finished.”

I step away from Eric, slightly shaken up, and a little confused. I cross my arms and take a very deep breath. I release it slowly and count to five to relax myself. Eric turns and gives Lucian a nod as he seems a little distraught himself. “Just finished.”

“I…I should get dressed.” I say, looking at Eric who is running a hand through his hair as Lucian is telling him that he can have the proofs ready in a few hours if needed. Eric gives him a little nod, but his head turns to me. 

“Did you have a good shoot, Elle?” I hear Lucian’s voice and even though I understand that he is talking to me I can’t take my eyes off Eric. 

Eric smiles. “Did you have a good shoot, Elle?” He repeats, looking back at Lucian who is staring at us both like we’re crazy. 

I shake out of the haze of peppermint and Eric’s blue eyes to nod. “It was great. I really hope they like the photos.”

“She was stunning,” Eric adds. “They’ll blow everyone away.”

Lucian raises his eyebrows and cocks his head slightly. “Alright, well…I can’t wait to see them. I bet they’re great.” 

“I’m really cold…I’m just going to get dressed.” Eric and Lucian both give me a nod and as I walk away I can feel their eyes on me. I have no clue what just fucking happened. I feel…a little panicked to be quite honest. I nearly kissed Eric. Or…did Eric almost kiss me? I have no idea. My heart is still pounding at the thought. I swear to God…looking in his eyes is just like being charmed by a snake who is about to eat you. Completely unaware of anything around you except him. And that…is terrifying.

1. Déjà Vu by Georgio Moroder feat. Sia

2. Can’t Fight the Moonlight by Leann Rimes 

3. Little Red Riding Hood by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs

4. Leader of the Broken Hearts by Papa Roach

5. There’s No Going Back by the Sick Puppies

6. Big Bad Wolf (demo) by Lana Del Ray

7. Marie Laveau by Bobby Bare (be sure it’s this version, it’s the best!)

8. Broken by Seether feat Amy Lee

9. The Reason by Hoobastank

10. Broken by Seether (the original acoustic, because it’s beautiful)

11. Wherever You Will Go by The Calling

1. Hungry Eyes (cover) by New Found Glory

2. Take Me Home Tonight (cover) by Hinder 

3. Just The Way You Are (cover) by Pierce the Veil

4. The Glory Of Love (cover) by New Found Glory

5. Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey 

6. In Too Deep by Sum 41

7. Play That Song by Train

8. Listen To Your Heart by Roxette

9. Uptown Girl by Billy Joel (check out Westlife’s cover too)

10. Stitches (cover) by State Champs

11. Straight Through The Heart by Backstreet Boys

12. Breathless by the Corrs

1. Gone, Gone, Gone by Phillip Phillips

2. Let Her Go by Passenger

3. Demons by Imagine Dragons

4. Ho Hey by the Lumineers

5. Crawling Back To You by Backstreet Boys

6. Just Want You To Know by Backstreet Boys 

7. I Think We’d Feel Good Together by Rob Thomas 

8. If You Leave by OMD

9. The Reason by Hoobastank (you’ll see why this works for book 1 and 2)

10. Casanova by Allie X

Trista Jaszczak (jazz-ick) is the international bestselling author of Red, Unmasked, Skin Deep, and Loverboy. She is an Air Force spouse and mother to two mischievous and rambunctious little girls. She is originally from Hamilton, Ohio but calls home where ever the Air Force sends her. She currently resides in Anchorage, Alaska where she finds endless inspiration in the pure Alaskan wilderness. When she isn’t writing, she spends her time with her family in the vast Alaskan outdoors, working as a make-up artist, running, or riding her Harley. She loves the outdoors, the moon, old movies, and music.

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Romance is in the Air Day 10 - Nichole Van

Gladly Beyond by Nichole Van

An ancient curse, fractured at the birth of three brothers.
Two strangers helplessly drawn to each other.
A love story two hundred years in the making.

Claire Raythorn arrives in Florence, Italy, shattered, alone, and anxious to rebuild her life—preferably one without men. But she soon finds herself hunted and haunted— literally—when a mysterious stalker dressed like Mr. Darcy from BBC central casting appears in her photos. And only her photos. Who is this man? And what does his ghostly presence mean?

Dante D’Angelo simply wants to safeguard his brothers, despite the family curse that hounds his vision. But then Claire Raythorn walks into his life, untouched somehow by his curse. Soon, everything Dante thought he knew about himself starts to unravel, dragging Claire down with him.

Set against the lush backdrop of Florence, Italy—both past and present—Claire and Dante fight for a future together. But, first, they must uncover their shared past . . .



The thing I like about Van's writing is that she builds up the love between hero and heroine in plausible increments. I think that's why I always end up reading her novels in one sitting until the early morning hours; I know that in the NEXT scene the characters are going to finally realize their love. But then you get to the next scene and you simply want more and more. And I mean that in the best possible way.

I’ve always thought Italian cities are like guys I knew in college:

Rome—the hot frat boy I was dying to go out with (and I did, and it was awesome). But, turns out, everyone dated Rome.

Naples—Rome’s frat house roommate. The guy on no sleep and his tenth can of Red Bull. No one messed with him cause he knew people who knew people . . . catch my drift . . .

Venice—the dreamily gorgeous philosophy major. Brilliantly eccentric but exotic enough that no one quite knew what to make of him.

Milan—the second-year MBA student who was big on power-ties and power-lunches. Basically, the organized guy who held everyone else together.

And then there was Florence.

Firenze, to those who knew him.

Quiet and unassuming. When we first met, I wondered what all the fuss was about.

But Firenze . . . he was a subtle seducer. If I asked, he could talk for hours about art and history. But, generally, Firenze simply listened. Peaceful. Steady. Ready to shoulder my sorrows.

Firenze is the guy I never got out of my system.





I hit the ground floor and took two steps toward the large wooden front door.

How would the next few weeks play out? Like being a contestant on Survivor? The Great Race?

A male voice stopped me. “Just the person I was waiting for.”

I closed my eyes.

Nope. Things were shaping up to be The Bachelorette.

Honestly.

Pasting on my polite grin, which truthfully was more of a grimace by this point, I turned around.

“Mr. D’Angelo.”

“Dante, please.” He stepped out of the shadows at the base of the stairs. A window in the stairwell illuminated half of him. Even that half was huge.

Whereas I looked down on Pierce and was eye-level with the Colonel, I had to look up, up at Dante. At five ten myself, it takes a lot to make me feel short. But he somehow managed it. He had to be at least six four and linebacker-wide. Did he play football in high school?

His dark, wavy hair had been smoothly slicked back when he arrived earlier. But I had watched it creep forward as the morning went along until a section of it came loose, swinging down to kiss his jaw. My fingers itched to brush it back.

Dante was the type of man I had always had a sweet tooth for. Until I learned, oh-so-painfully, how bad for my health they could be.

Love's Shadow by Nichole Van

Branwell D’Angelo . . .
Six years ago, I fell in love with Lucy—my brother’s girlfriend. Stupid of me, I know, but sometimes the heart doesn’t listen to reason.
Six years, I’ve lived on the sidelines. Seeing him love her, be with her, bask in her sunshine . . .
I watched her break his heart and then cleaned up the shattered pieces of him she left behind.
She’s the one woman I can’t have but still the only one my soul wants.
Now she’s back in our lives and needs the unique help only us D’Angelos can give.
He’s not emotionally strong enough to face her. So he’s sending me instead . . .

When tragedy strikes Lucy Snow on a visit to Italy, she can’t bring herself to call any of the D’Angelo brothers for help. There are consequences for falling in love with your ex-boyfriend’s brother. But Lucy desperately needs Branwell’s paranormal skills and his gift of Sight. And if seeing him will negate at least three years of therapy? Well, it’s a price she is willing to pay.

Thrown together in a desperate bid to save an innocent life, Branwell and Lucy struggle against their shared past, only to realize that something even more dangerous is reaching through the weight of time to stalk their every move . . .

Oh. My. Gosh! The feels! The feels are real my fellow bookworms! My emotions were all over the place while reading this book! I laughed, I yelled, I got teary eyed, I growled in frustration, I let out little dreamy sighs and fell in love right along with Branwell and Lucy. I can't even begin to describe the amazingness of this book! One of my favorite parts of this book are the sour "punny" bears! *giggles* Oh! I can't forget about that epilogue! Love... love... LOVE! And talk about swoony! *dreamy sigh* I had the hardest time putting this book down! I have discovered a love/hate relationship with real life. Haha.

“Wait, wait. Don’t move,” a woman’s voice said.

I froze, fork hovered over a particularly decadent piece of strawberry laden gooey-ness.

I lifted my head and encountered the most amazing eyes. Blue-green and wide-set. The smell of lemon-verbena and sunshine drifted over me. That fiery red hair tumbled around the gentle curve of her jaw. Window-light sculpted the arch of her rosebud lips.

Freckles. Freckles everywhere. Stars dotting her skin.

She was . . . stunning. Magnificent. Breathtaking in an unconventional way.

Maybe it was the jet lag, or the sugar and caffeine hitting my system in a knockout one-two punch.

But . . . it jolted me hard. That bolt of lightning.

This girl . . . woman . . .

Something about her tugged at me. A siren call of wedding bells and growing old hand-in-hand.

Then I noticed her t-shirt—The Empurr Strikes Back scrawled underneath Star Wars-themed, anime kittens.

Yep. That sealed the deal.

I was going to fall in love with her. So hard. So fast.





“So what’s your brand of crazy?” she asked.

After a pause, I went with, “I won’t eat anything green unless it’s a vegetable.”

She cocked her head, processing.

A beat.

“Green M&M’s? Skittles? Gummy bears?” she asked.

“Nope. Leave ‘em all in the bag.”

“Green frosting? Sprinkles? Mold?”

“Nope. Nada. And please, no.”

“So why no green?” she asked, genuine, sincere.

I pondered options and then went with, “Non-vegetal green things are the charlatans of the food world.”

“That’s about the best sentence I’ve heard all week.” She gave that giggly, wispy laugh of hers. “What about avocados? I mean, they act like a vegetable, but they’re really a fruit.”

“Masquerading vegetables get a pass. So do herbs.”

“What about kiwi?”

“The jury is still out on kiwi. They’re something of a Franken-fruit, to be honest . . . all that fuzzy hair and the tiny, crunchy seeds.”

She laughed again. “Please tell me you have no Irish heritage. You would destroy any St. Patty’s Day celebration.”

“None.” I smiled, shaking my head. “Though, I did have an Irish roommate once. He thought I was, and I quote, ‘A wee bit mad.’”

Lightning Struck by Nichole Van

Chiara doesn’t like Jack. Jack doesn’t like Chiara.
The story should end there.
Except . . . maybe Chiara finds herself daydreaming far too often about Jack. And maybe Jack finds Chiara aggravating in an adorable sorta way.
Maybe Jack and Chiara find themselves falling in love.
The problem, of course, remains.
Jack is a ghost.
And Chiara is not.

Jack Knight-Snow has had a bad year for losing things. So far he has lost a ship full of ancient treasure, his family, his friends, his title, his lands and money, his fiancé, the century into which he was born . . . oh, and his physical body. Worse, feisty Chiara D’Angelo might just finish the job and make him lose his mind.

For her part, Chiara simply wants to help Jack get his body back and move on with his life. She doesn’t want to like his snarky humor or his gorgeous eyes or the way he accepts her exactly as she is. She’s a hot mess when it comes to romantic relationships. Case in point . . . she’s developing feelings for a ghost.

But tackling the problem of Jack’s ghostliness is not straightforward. Soon, Jack and Chiara find themselves embroiled in a mystery which creates more questions about the D’Angelo brothers’ gifts of Second Sight. Set against the backdrop of Tuscany, Italy, Jack and Chiara race to uncover answers about the past before becoming history themselves.

Nichole Van has hit paydirt yet again with this latest Brothers Maledetti book! Chiara's story has swoonworthy romance that is 100% clean, as well as laugh out loud humor and superb storytelling to make up this amazing, unputdownable book! Although you don't have to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy this one, I'd highly recommend reading them to get further backstory on the D'Angelo family and their talents. Nichole Van is one of the few authors on my "instant-buy" list and this latest installment is another reminder why. Five stars just don't seem enough.

“Jack, we’re all concerned about you,” I said the words carefully, keeping my tone flat and not screechy like I felt. “We’ve been concentrating on trying to find answers for your ghost-like state, but I think the constant focus is hurting more than it’s helping. It’s like picking at a scab over and over, never allowing it to heal. Maybe it’s time to take a step back from our research.”

Jack paused, giving me his best Regency-era, Lord Knight stare.

I had a love/hate relationship with that stare—I hated that I kinda loved it. It was snooty with an edge of dry sardonic humor, and it challenged every womanly impulse in my body to kiss it off his face.

Not that I would do that, of course, even if it were possible. But the urge was there.

“Would you prefer me to continue my exploration of modern names?” he asked.

I bit my lip, unsure how to reply. It was a decent threat.

Jack had gone through this whole phase where he mocked contemporary celebrity names.

Example: Brittany Spears.

It had been days of, ‘Pardon Siri, but who are the Spears of Brittany?’ and ‘Are Brittany Spears similar to Celtic weaponry from northern France?’

“I have yet to understand why Ryan cares so much about goslings,” Jack continued. “Does he have a fetish for young poultry?”

See?!

Honestly.

Author Nichole Van

Nichole Van is a writer, photographer, designer and generally disorganized crazy person. Though originally from Utah, she currently lives on the coast of Scotland with three similarly crazy children and one sane, very patient husband who puts up with all of them. In her free time, she enjoys long walks along the Scottish lochs and braes. She does not, however, enjoy haggis.

Giveaway Details
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Ends 3/9/18

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