★★★★Cover Reveal★★★★
The Heart
The Reluctant Romantics, Book 2
by Kate Stewart


Merek Slatter is the wild card on the Silver Star Ranch in Texas and always has been. He’s blessed with his granddaddy’s love of the ranch yet haunted with chasing that gold buckle eight seconds at a time.
Tensions are high on the ranch when circumstances threaten to take it under. His dad and brothers pressure him to stay home and become an active cowboy on the ranch. However, Merek is addicted to the road and rodeo. He’s home anytime he can be and provides plenty of money to keep the family ranch afloat, but sometimes it takes more than what’s in the bank to protect tradition.
Now home on a three-month break, Merek finds himself all tied up with the new girl in town. She’s quiet and reserved but there’s something about Challis’ green eyes and feisty attitude that makes her irresistible. When he runs into her at a rodeo and catches a glimpse of her on horseback all hopes of leaving her alone fly out the window.
There are several rumors floating around town about her, however that doesn’t stop Merek from going after what he wants. He knows she’s off limits and only full of trouble, but Merek thrives on trouble and adrenaline.
Then the road calls again and it’s time to leave.
Eight Seconds
Gold Buckles
And the high…
What will he choose?
It’s nearly dusk as the light clouds whirl around in the sky. My head begins to spin even faster and I feel my back sink down the side of the trailer. I slip off the ledge I was halfway sitting on and take a chug from the bottle. My ass hits the ground with a thud and I laugh out loud. F*ck, even my laugh sounds slurred.
“You okay?”
I look up into the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, it’s attached to Merek’s body.
“I’s fineeee.” I draw out the word fine to cover up why my speech is so slurred. I stiffen into an upright position trying to act as sober as possible.
Merek kneels down in front of me.
“Wants a drink?” I hold out the bottle to him noticing there’s only about a swallow or two left.
“Challis, did you drink all of this?”
I just shrug my shoulders.
“You’re going to be one hurting cowgirl in the morning.”
I watch as he sets it down at his feet.
“Drink,” I yell. His eyes flash between me and down to the bottle.
“What?” I try to stand on my feet. “Am I not good enough for you?”
“Challis.” His hands grip my shoulders as I tumble forward.
“I just set a f*cking record in that arena. Beat all the hometown girls with their daddy’s money behind them and you won’t drink my wisskey?”
Merek has me wrapped up in one arm while he chuckles at me, which only pisses me off even further.
“Don’t.” I pound into his chest.
“Okay, sorry. Sorry.” He bends down, snagging the bottle from the ground. “Is this what you want, Challis?” He dangles the bottle in front of my face.
“I want you to have a drink with me.” I clutch the bottom of the bottle and help guide it to his lips.
“Okay, okay, calm down.” He parts his lips just enough for the opening of the bottle to rest on his bottom lip, and I pour all the liquid into his mouth.
I feel him backing us up until my back smashes into the side of the trailer, and it’s not until this moment that I realize I have one hand wrapped around his neck and the rest of my body pressed up against his.
“Happy now?” He crooks an eyebrow at me.
I let out a giggle.
“What’s so funny, Challis?”
“You’re cute, Merek Slatter.”
“You’re f*cking wasted, Challis Jones.”
I shrug my shoulders. “This is my first rodeo since my daddy died.”
Tears fall down both cheeks this time as I hold nothing back nor have the willpower to hide the pain anymore.
“Come here.” Merek guides my head down on his shoulder and my tears flow down the crook of his neck. I feel his hand rubbing circles on my back in a soothing motion and I don’t fight any of it.
A long time passes before either of us move or even talk to each other. I allow my body to melt into his and let him hold me as I try to calm the wild stream of tears.
“Merek.” We both look up to see the blonde once again and it’s as if all my senses snap right back into place.
“Go. I’m sorry.” I push back on his chest. “I’m fine.”
Merek takes a step back from me and I feel my body sway. My feet try to find steady ground, but none ever comes and then my body is free falling to the ground. I feel Merek’s hands on me again and pulling me right back into his chest.
“Fine, uh?” He brushes a stray hair from my cheek. “I’m going to introduce you to Madison.”
“No.” But before I can put up more of a fight, the nosy b*tch is standing feet away.
“Challis, this is Madison, and Madison, Challis. Madison and I were best friends growing up.”
I listen to the bullshit flying from his mouth but don’t react.
“Nice to meet you, Challis.” She runs her hands down the front of her short shorts, then turns to Merek. “I’m leaving, just wanted to tell you nice ride tonight.”
She steps up and places a peck on his cheek with me cuddled in his arms. I wipe at my eyes, making sure I just witnessed the scene that went down.
“You have a ride home? I know you’ve been drinking.”
She turns and points to a tall and lean cowboy talking to Merek’s brother.
“F*ck, you picked a roper out of all the cowboys around to take you home.”
“Yep, see ya, Merek.” She slaps him on the ass and bounces off.
Merek turns back to me and must see the obvious stunned look on my face.
“I thought…I thought…I mean, isn’t she your girlfriend?”
“No, longtime best bud and f*ck buddy.”
I throw my spinning head back while I let Merek still hold me up. “Good lord, I need another drink.”
“You got it, cowgirl, but no more whiskey. Let’s just keep this drunken state up.”
“Thanks, Champ.”
“I hate it when you f*cking call me that.”
“Good, I’ll keep calling you it.” I tilt my head back down and tap him on his nose.
My lips lightly brush his and he doesn’t pull back. The sweet and masculine taste lingering on them intrigues me and makes me want more. This time my lips linger on his, nuzzling from side to side, then my tongue darts out absorbing his delicious taste into my mouth.
“Kiss me, Merek.”
He doesn’t back away and talks on my lips. “Sober Challis wouldn’t like this at all.”
“Sober Challis worries too much. Please kiss me, Merek.”
Reservation fills his eyes, but then he clenches them shut and attacks my lips. My back is pressed up to the trailer again. Both of his large hands grab the sides of my face as he kisses me hard. I wiggle my way up to him and throw all of my body into him. After several seconds of his lips attacking mine, I play back and begin kissing him, not missing the moans of pleasure he releases in my mouth.
His taste is nothing I’ve experienced before and damn near addicting. My tongue laps up every ounce of it. A few hoots and hollers fill the air and I know they’re directed right at us. I remove Merek’s hat and cover our two faces with it, blocking out our little make-out session.
“I see you’ve kissed a cowboy a time or two,” he mumbles into my mouth.
“Maybe.” I shrug. “Or just watch a lot of western movies.”
“Which is it, Challis?”
“Shut up and kiss me, Champ.”
His lips are back on mine, kissing me even harder if that’s possible, as my one free hand tugs and pulls the man closer into me. Once sealed together, I trail it down the front of his shirt and search for the top of his jeans, and once I find his buckle, I flip it undone with ease.
Merek begins shaking his head side to side. “Nope, not tonight.”
“C’mon.” I nod toward the front of my trailer.
He grips both sides of my face and forces me to look up at him. “Challis, you’re going to hate me in the morning for just kissing you.”
I drop my head and mumble. “Yeah, go for the skanks anyway. I ain’t no buckle bunny.”
Merek doesn’t respond. Instead, he hoists me up and over his shoulder, slaps my ass, and begins limping. I can tell he’s in pain from the way my body sways side to side, and I feel as if I’m going to slide right off his shoulder.
“Merek, put me down now.”
He doesn’t listen to me, and when I look up I see the back of his pickup and feel him stop and slide me down his chest. He settles in on the tailgate of his truck and leaves me staring dumbfounded at him. He holds out a hand to me, but I don’t grab it and soon feel his grip on my forearm as he tugs me into his lap, twirling me around first. I settle nicely between his legs and look around to all the staring people.
I struggle a bit to get free, or at least turn and face Merek, but he keeps my hips firmly planted.
“Here, Sis. This will help.” His brother hands me a drink. “Maverik, by the way.”
“Yeah, thanks. I’ve waited on you in the bar.” I grab the drink and pound it, welcoming the burning whiskey. “Another.”
He chuckles and walks away. Looking back at Merek, I’m relieved he’s deep in conversation as my drunken state has begun to wear off a bit. Maverik hands me another solo cup and I slam it and then nurse the beer he handed me.
Merek’s telling tales of traveling up and down the road and the different buckers he’s been on. I sit and listen to him and almost feel like I’m back home with my rodeo crowd just bullshitting after a rodeo. I relax back on Merek’s solid chest, laying my head on his shoulder, gazing up at the star lit night sky.
“Too much whiskey?” he whispers in my ear.
“Yeah, I’m f*cked up.” I reach up and lightly pet the scruff on his jawline. And even in my drunken state I know this has gone way too far already.
I remember his iced leg from earlier. “Hey, are you okay? What did you hurt?”
“I just tore some…”
My eyelids become heavy as his words slur together in my head, swirling around until my eyes finally shut and a welcoming darkness takes over.
I’m just a simple girl who loves the country life.. .oh yeah! & a good corn dog! Throw in a little Vanilla Ice, and shits bound to get crazy! Be brave…
-Loves country life & music
-Gets the case of the “eff-its” often
-Loves Big
-Hurts Big
-Loves corn dogs & candy…. & (sex & candaaay)
-My heart is happy writing!!!
Fitting in has never been something fifteen-year-old Hadley Asher ever aspired to. Three schools in one year brings unwanted and unwelcome attention to a girl like Hadley who only wants to blend in.
After her family moves from Buffalo, NY to the small, upper-class town of Blue Valley in Central New York, Hadley’s next door neighbor Lana quickly befriends her, the two becoming nearly inseparable. However, Paxton Jamison, Lana’s stepbrother and the boy with the brilliant blue eyes, has to step in to help Hadley deal with Lana, who is hard to handle on a good day.
When an unprecedented scandal and tragedy strike the small community, Hadley becomes its focus, its target. As a result, the girl who hides in books and wants to blend in with the background finds breathing is nearly impossible.
Ally Derby lives in upstate New York in a small town. She is a middle school student,who loves field hockey, music, books, family and God.
She has no problem sticking up for what she feels is right, regardless of the social ramifications and that doesn’t always go over well.
She is also a fierce fangirl, and loves to role play on Instagram as @firefandoms.
Her favorite book genre is young adult dystopian. Her favorite book series include, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, The Divergent series, The Maze Runner, and The Selection series.
Other books she devours are anything John Green, and Gayle Foreman.
Her books are her life and when Ally gets in trouble at home, her mother grounds her from books, *gasp*
Jacqueline Ross is an author, and mother to Ally. She reads almost everything Ally does and enjoys the romance genre.
She is ‘one of those moms’. Meaning she is overprotective and pushes Ally to do her best at everything she does.
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I met my true love when I was twenty-seven. He was handsome, charming, witty, and irresistible. Jayden Monroe came along when I was struggling with indecision and made things simple, turned monochrome into vivid color, and forever altered my perspective on life.
I was not naive enough to believe in happily ever after, but with Jayden, it seemed possible . . . until I realized something wasn’t quite right.
You see, I met a man who would be anyone I needed him to be, and after I found out that fact, I knew it would be impossible to walk away. His disorder, however, would change everything I ever thought about love and what it truly meant to accept someone for who they are.
This is not my sob story; this is his success story.
Kate Stewart, a native of Dallas, now resides in Charleston, S.C. She moved to the city three weeks after her first visit, dropping her career of 8 years, declaring the city her creative muse. Since her move in 2010, she has published two novels, the third coming July 2015. She lives with her husband of 8 years, Nick who is featured on the cover of the novel, TITAN. (Set to re-release some time in 2015.)
Her other novels include Room 212 and Never Me which are both available now.
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Jessamy and Kyla could hear her baby giggle from where they stood. “Aww!” They said in tandem.
THE Game to be eligible.
Broken: Book 1 ————→ http://amzn.to/1nODyJn
Succumbing: Book 2 —–→ http://amzn.to/1rGPkDS
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Lyla Harper’s life has always been shadowed. With her childhood full of unpleasant memories that she tries to tuck away and forget about, she succeeds at putting on a happy front and convincing those around her that she is happy. But she isn’t.
Meet Lyla Elizabeth Harper, a teen whose journey is less than ideal. She experiences heartache, loss, bullying, but through it all she strives for hope. She counts down the days until she has the chance to start over in a new city, unaware of her past. A city far away from the recollections that have scarred her physically and mentally.
In this first book of the Scars and Sorrow Saga, you will be faced with the ghastly and horrendous events that plague Lyla, starting on the day of her eighteenth birthday, a day that changed her forever. Lyla thought she was broken before, but she was wrong. Davis Moore, a 22-year-old handsome cop and also Rigdon’s gold boy, steals something from Lyla on that fateful night on Brownsmith Road.
Others will challenge her will and strength, testing her and pushing her to the brink of giving up.
Will Lyla be able to trudge through the deep rut that she is stuck in to move to Chicago to start her life over? Or will the evil events consume her and leave her grounded, unable to lead a life free of pain?
**Graphic content, including underage drinking, drug use, non-consensual sex, and self-mutilation. Not suitable for readers under the age of eighteen.**
Lyla Harper is sure she will be alone for the rest of her life. After she leaves Kansas for college in Chicago, she hopes she will never have to face her dark secrets again. Four years later, Lyla lands an internship at a prestigious firm, hoping to plant her roots and close the door to her past forever. Unfortunately, Lyla is about to learn that the past has a way of finding her, no matter how well she hides.
After she is assigned to a marketing millionaire and notorious jerk, Lyla attempts to overcome her pessimistic view of the world and move on with her life. But after she lays eyes on her drop-dead gorgeous neighbor, Everett Brown, her secrets begin to resurface, prompting her to regress into her ol coping ways. Led by curiosity and an undeniable attraction, Lyla pursues a passionate relationship with Everett and slowly begins to feel like a woman again. Now all she has to do is decide whether to tell him the truth.
In this contemporary erotic romance, only time will tell if a young woman’s new lover will be able to save her from herself as her past emerges from the darkness to confront her ones and for all.
*Graphic content including underage drinking, drug use, self-mutilation, and non-consensual sex. Not suitable for readers under the age of eighteen.**
Everett Brown has secrets. Secrets that Lyla has been waiting for him to tell her for months. He has successfully evaded them, but Lyla is becoming impatient.
With the vicious attack of his beloved still fresh in his mind along with the painful loss he feels, his emotions play a battle against one another, testing his strength and ability to hold himself together.
Will the secrets that he keeps jeopardize his relationship to the woman who has his heart? Or will he learn to cope with memories that resurface with a vengeance and move on to the next phase of his life… marriage?
With Michael Thomas and Davis Moore still free, justice has yet to be served. In this whirlwind contemporary erotic romance novel, this young couple’s relationship will be tried with numerous wicked curveballs and twists that even they aren’t prepared for.
**Graphic content including underage drinking, drug use, non-consensual sex, and self-mutilation. Not suitable for readers under the age of eighteen.**
Dive into the life of another character in the tragic and heart-wrenching Scars and Sorrow Saga.
Garrett Joseph Harper was not the man he once was. His life was altered years when his best friend and fellow Marine, Trent, was killed before him while serving in Afghanistan. Circumstances went from bad to worse when his baby sister, Lyla, was the victim of a grisly attack that nearly took her life.
When Lyla finally seems like she in on the bridge to recovering from the life that she once had with the help of her soon-to-be-husband, Everett, Garrett is sinking deeper into an abyss of darkness.
With the memories of all the gruesomeness that has plagues him, he goes about life on autopilot spending his small town life working at the coal mines and drinking his paychecks away at Rigdon’s holy place for gossip and trouble, King’s Bar.
Garrett’s flame of life is lit once more by Brooklyn Lancaster, a woman who has had eyes for him as long as she has known what love was. Will the connection Brooklyn has to Garrett’s past prevent them from moving forward? Or will something more serious and permanent tear the two new lovers apart when both feel a sense of normalcy for the first time in years?
In Garrett’s story, you will have insight into his pain, past, sorrow, and his ability to hold onto hope. Be prepared for many twists and turns. You know what they say… nothing is ever what it seems.
**Graphic content. Not suitable for readers under the age of eighteen.**
Run. That’s what Lyla Harper does best. With Rigdon, Kansas hundreds of miles away, she focuses on planting her roots and immersing herself in college life at Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois.
As Lyla tries to play the role of hardworking student by day and barista at night at York Company Coffee House, the monotonous routine is wearing thin. She thinks back to home, the milestones she’s missed and the family that she doesn’t have near.
She’s lonely with the exception of the incubi that will never vacate. With her emotions colliding, she’s once again faced with her vilest adversary; regression.
After all, a person can only pretend to be happy for so long. Davis Moore and the horrid events plague her mind as one text message tests her will to remain strong.
One afternoon in her public speaking lecture, circumstances change for Lyla when Professor Blaine Miller’s eyes meet hers. For the first time, she feels passion, lust and want. Will Blaine change her outlook on life or leave her empty, feeling like the girl she was years before?
Read this emotional tale about self-discovery, overcoming, growth, redemption, relapse, desire, and hope.
**Graphic content including self-mutilation, non-consensual sex, underage drinking, drug use, and physical/emotional abuse. Not suitable for readers under the age of eighteen.**
Mary E. Palmerin is 27 years old and resides in Indiana. She is married, has two small boys and usually has her nose in a good book when she isn’t writing. She has been writing since she was a young girl, scribbling fairy tales down on notebook paper, creating poetry through her teen years, and many shorts in between, all of which she has kept. Mary enjoys telling tales that are both raw and real, seeing it as a gift to be able to evoke various emotions from her readers.
She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, anything outdoors, relaxing by the pool with a good piece of literature, red wine, coffee, tattoos, and HEA!
Social Media
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1v9GZZD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MP_writer8
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1tj49KO
That was, until she found out her marriage was all a lie, and things she never thought could exist, did.
Vampires are real.
Werewolves are real.
And Mena is not human anymore.