Thursday, April 27, 2017

Read an Excerpt From Viral Justice by Julie Rowe

$3.49


Military Romantic Suspense
As a general's daughter, Alicia Stone has fought twice as hard for everything she's earned in the military. A Special Forces consultant with black belts in three martial arts, she's as strong as her surname implies. No one dares call her Alicia—no one but Colonel Robert Maxmillian, head of the Biological Response Team.
With Alicia at his side, Max must lead the team into northern Iraq to investigate a virus—or is it a weapon?—killing the area's population. Charged with guarding his body, she can't help wanting his hands on her body. Max would be the perfect fling. But he demands more.
The heat builds between them, but danger quickly follows. As the two get closer to the source of the virus, they'll have to risk their future to outsmart a scientist with nothing to lose.


There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them. ~ Andre Gide

Chapter One

“They’re not going to agree with your plan, Colonel,” Alicia muttered as she stared at the group of military doctors standing several feet away.
Colonel Robert Maximillian, head of the US Army Biological Response Team bent closer to the tiny, curvy Sergeant Alicia Stone and had to clear his throat before asking, “What makes you say that?”
“Look at their body language,” she continued in that almost subvocal whisper. “They’ve closed ranks and you’re on the outside.”
He had to consciously hold himself still as he studied the group of men. Military doctors from five different countries. They were positioned in a tight circle, two with their backs to him, talking quietly. All of them stood at just a hair under attention. The faces he could see were set, eyes serious. Understandable. These were dangerous times, and their mutual enemy could be anyone, even someone in your own army.
Stone shifted and her shoulder brushed his arm.
His attraction to the sergeant was irrational and impossible. He wasn’t a fan of either.
“They’re having a simple conversation, Sergeant, nothing more.”
“I’ve been on the receiving end of that kind of conversation,” Stone said, her voice filled with enough acid to melt steel. “If they wanted to include you, they’d have left a space for you to step into, but they didn’t. They’ve already decided and they know you’re not going to like their decision.”
“That’s ridiculous.” He knew every man in the group and had earned their respect. “They’re professionals and they know I have new information for them.”
“It isn’t going to matter. Their minds are made up.” Stone’s voice was so sharp he stopped to really look at her.
“What happened?” he asked her.
“It’s not what happened, but what’s not going to happen that’s the problem, sir.”
“No.” He waved away the reference to the meeting they were about to attend. “I mean, with you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this angry before.”
“Me, angry?” she said with wide eyes that did nothing to hide the displeasure on the rest of her face. “I’m grateful, sir, to be the only female combat trainer for the Special Forces.” Her tone made it clear she was anything but grateful.
“Did you break another officer’s arm?” Four months ago, an asshole who’d thought he was some kind of martial arts expert had tried to intimidate Stone during a training session. She’d put him on the mats twice before he got angry and attacked for real, thinking she couldn’t handle an actual fight. She’d not only broken his arm, but two fingers of the opposite hand, as well.
The incident hadn’t ended there. The officer had accused her of assault, but with so many witnesses the charges against Stone had been thrown out, and he’d been charged with assault. Since then, however, at least two other officers had lodged formal complaints against her.
The old boys’ club, closing ranks.
“Nothing that would show up on an X-ray.” Her voice sounded bland. Something had gone very wrong.
If someone hurt her, he was going to find out and make their life miserable. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
She jerked, as if the question startled her. “Don’t argue with me if I tell you to do something.”
“Arguing with one’s bodyguard would be stupid. I try not to be an idiot more than twice a day. I reached my quota an hour ago.”

Author Biography

Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the North West Territories and northern Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because, “Fiction has to be believable”. Julie writes contemporary and historical medical romance, fun romantic suspense and military romance. Her most recent titles are the MEN OF ACTION boxed set and VIRAL JUSTICE book #3 of the Biological Response Team series. You can find her at www.julieroweauthor.com , on Twitter @julieroweauthor or at her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor
 
Social Media Links
Twitter: @julieroweauthor

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Trojan T - Increase Testosterone & Change Your Life Forever

DISCOVER THE NATURAL AND HEALTHY SECRETS THAT WILL INCREASE YOUR TESTOSTERONE AND START CHANGING YOUR LIFE FOREVER.

 

Attention Men!

Many of you over the age of 18 experience low testosterone levels which have a significant impact on your health, your body, your interaction with opposite sex, energy, etc. The list goes on.

Have you tried losing weight time and time again only to keep hitting the wall?

Have you spent hours in the gym trying to put on muscle, only to keep getting the same meager results?

Have you spent heaps of money on decent clothes and learning pickup techniques only for other guys to effortlessly and naturally find beautiful women, whilst you feel like Mr Invisible?



There’s no reason to feel alone. Plenty of us have been in this situation, and there is a huge reason for it, and that is:


Low Testosterone.


You see, modern western diets and the environment we live in is affecting us in a BIG WAY, and a major contributor to significantly low T levels among men.
Studies suggest the following are causing major havoc on your hormones:
  • Synthetic chemicals in food and water supply
  • Pollution
  • High sugar levels
  • Parabens and other nasties found in soaps, toothpastes and deodorants
  • High stress lifestyles
  • And many more!
These gender bending chemicals are zapping your energy, suppressing your libido and in some cases, causing you to develop the dreaded man boobs.

These chemicals are literally forcing your body to convert testosterone into estrogen and turning you into a feminine man. THIS MUST STOP!

These days, men are becoming aware of this, and the fightback has begun. However, many are turning to testosterone replacement therapy which is a significant and costly process, with many unknown risks, studies suggesting an increased risk of blood clots or even strokes.



In my opinion, it’s just not worth it.

Particularly when you can start boosting your T levels in a completely natural way, with items found around the house or the local supermarket!

That’s why I’ve put together this book, Trojan – T and why you should read it.

This is a comprehensive blueprint that will show you how to naturally boost testosterone levels, build muscle mass, burn stubborn fat and elevate your libido so you can have mind blowing sex every single night.

“Low testosterone is in my view, the number 1 enemy to men getting the body they want, the sex life they want and the life they want. Today’s so called ‘healthy diets’ along with our current western lifestyles are destroying men’s testosterone levels in ways we’ve never seen before. I’ve decided it’s time to share everything I’ve told my clients over the years, in transforming them into the strong, ripped Trojans they were meant to be”.

Trojan T will show you how to skyrocket your testosterone levels without harming your health or your body.

It doesn’t matter if you are 18 years of age or 60 years of age, the techniques outlined in this guide will help you naturally boost testosterone levels.

And what’s best – I guarantee it! With a 60 day no questions asked money back guarantee!


* the results experienced are not typical consumer results and results may vary

Recent Customers

  • Andre U, NOKevin R, US Jarmo U, USKalvir S, CA
  • Jesse L, US Dio B, USIrene G, IESmajl R, CH
  • Helo V, ZA David Y, USRajit G, INEscobar H, US
  • Lorenzo D, US Tara M, USNatalia C, AEBrian R, AU
  • Steph D, US Ryan A, USEmilio F, USLi N, CH
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  • Jethro B, US Rome Y, ZAJustin N, CAJeremy Y, CH
  • George A, AE Sur W, USMilton F, USMichael D, ZA
  • Sammy F, US Liam O, IEJulio O, AULeo D, GB
  • Irvin S, CA Lorelo Z, USFloyd F, IECordon S, US
  • Amber P, GBChristoph G, GUChristian R, USShawn H, US
  • Sandro R, USKotak B, INSepideh A, CADuruye T, GB
  • Banco V, PR Edwin V, USMario G, USBrian S, US
  • Deneso M, USMorgan S, USEric C, USJason T, US
  • Shanon M, USMarlon H, DKGurjit K, USRicky R, GB
  • Mando P, COWilliam S, USEdward M, AUDanny E, PA
  • Dante K, USRawaa K, KWJud O, NLLucio C, US
Data provided by Verified Data on Sat Apr 22 2017

If you are ready to transform your health and your life click the “Buy Now” button and grab your copy of Trojan T right now!




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Friday, April 21, 2017

My Stepbrother's Visit to the Clinic (Medical Clinic Book 1) by Zeven

$2.99 or FREE for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers

Amazon

A kinky little tale about a young man who needs to get a physical exam but his regular Doctor is out of town. So he asks his Stepsister to help him out by getting him in to see one of the Physicians at the Family Clinic where she works as a receptionist.

Read an Excerpt From Lethal Game by Julie Rowe

$3.99

Carina Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
iBooks

Military Romantic Suspense

As the nation’s youngest virologist and hematologist, Captain Sophia Perry has always been one step ahead of her peers. But there’s one thing she can’t beat—cancer. She wants to make a difference in the time she has left, so when she’s sent to investigate a breakout at a Syrian refugee camp, she goes, saying nothing of her diagnosis. But saving the masses isn’t easy when the man tasked to protect her is so irresistible.

Communications Sergeant Connor Button is back on active duty after a deadly explosion, but he doesn’t feel whole again until he meets Sophia. Assigned to keep her safe, he’s prepared to die for her, but for the first time in months he truly wants to live—if only she wasn’t so determined to put them both in danger.

With a secret to keep and nothing to lose, Sophia is determined to find the source of the breakout at any cost. Violent attacks on the camp convince her that someone wants her to pay dearly. But as Sophia’s health deteriorates, Connor must find a way to help her defeat her enemies before her body defeats her.


Security is mostly a superstition ~ Helen Keller

Chapter One
It had taken him three airplanes and over twenty-six hours to travel more than seven thousand miles, and now he was going to have to kill someone.
Ten feet from his room in the Navy hotel at the American Naval base in Bahrain.
All Special Forces Communications Sergeant Connor Button wanted was to find a bed and crash for a few hours.
What he did not need was witnessing some idiot striking out with a hot blonde and not taking it well.
She’d just removed his hand from her waist.
The man put it on her shoulder and tried to bring her closer. “Aw, come on, sweetheart.”
She slid away, her voice clear across the short distance. “No.”
Okay, dude, time to retreat. Only, the guy didn’t. He grabbed her by the back of the neck, hard enough to make her gasp in pain, and leaned down, his mouth aimed for hers.
She slapped the moron, but he didn’t get that hint either, just grabbed her hand and twisted it behind her back.
Con had to make himself stand still for a second. One second, so he could throttle back the instinct to beat the stupid fuck to death.
Fine. His jaw flexed. He wouldn’t kill the asshole, but he could hurt him real bad.
Con dropped his duffel on the floor and stomped toward the woman and the moron whose arm he was about to break.
Into several pieces.
Small ones.
The stomping got the moron’s attention. He glanced up, saw Con coming and his eyes went wide. He let go of the woman so fast she wobbled off balance and fell to the floor. Con stopped to help her while the moron ran like a track star down the hall and around a corner.
Good call, asshole.
Con bent down and offered his hand to the woman. “Are you okay?”
Her head jerked up and she stared at him with eyes that didn’t miss a thing. She scooted away, leaving his hand hanging in the air, then stood. Her shoulders went back and her chin rose.
He almost smiled. She was so not interested in another man getting all up in her business. He’d make sure she was all right, then he’d back off.
“Ma’am, did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine,” she said, retreating a step.
Blue-green eyes stood out in a face framed by white-blond hair hanging in a sheet down to the middle of her back. She was also stacked, though she wasn’t showing it off. She was following military clothing requirements, wearing long pants and a collared shirt one size too big, buttoned up to her neck. An asshole had just tried to sexually assault her, but Con would bet a year’s pay that had he not come along, the moron would have had his hands full with a pissed-off female trying to smash his balls into paste.
He glanced down.
Her mouth was pressed into a thin angry line, but her hands were shaking.
For the first time in months something other than anger or despair slammed into him.
He knew just how she felt. Hyped up on adrenaline and looking for a target.
It surprised him so much he opened his mouth to make some inane comment or other to show her he was no threat, but she raised a hand to stop him.
She spoke a quick, firm “Thank you.” And then she was gone, inside the room closest to her. The click of the lock being engaged echoed down the hall.


Author Biography

Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the North West Territories and northern Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because, “Fiction has to be believable”. Julie writes contemporary and historical medical romance, fun romantic suspense and military romance. Her most recent titles are the MEN OF ACTION boxed set and VIRAL JUSTICE book #3 of the Biological Response Team series. You can find her at www.julieroweauthor.com , on Twitter @julieroweauthor or at her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor


Social Media Links

Website: www.julieroweauthor.com

Twitter: @julieroweauthor

Facebook: www.facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Bodybuilding on Budget: Budgeting Your Money, Time, and Energy to Build a Better You

$7.99

Amazon

Finding quick and cheap ways to cook meals while strategizing to conserve your mental well-being in order to be more productive in the gym is a major goal of this book. Preparing your meals in advance, scheduling your workouts, scheduling days off from work to coordinate with your competition schedule, finding the fastest and easiest way to shop at the grocery store, the fastest way to cook your meals, how to surround yourself with positive people that will lead to your success, where to find the most affordable supplements, how to take the supplements and get the most out of them, and finally how to divide your time between the gym and your relationship with your family as well as many ways to squeeze a hour out of 30 minutes.

Visit the website and Facebook page as well. 

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Fairy Tales by Hermann Hesse

$2.99

Amazon

Hermann Hesse's Fairy Tales (Märchen) is a collection of seven short philosophical fictions written between 1913 and 1918, prior to and during the First World War. The collection was first published in German in 1919.

In these philosophical fictions, Hesse challenged conventional intellectual life and the orthodoxy of the world. Unlike his earlier work, the stories did not lend themselves to rational interpretation, they were essentially fairy tales dealing with dream worlds, the subconscious and the realm of magic.

The stories, with the year in which they were written, are: "Augustus – 1913”, "The Poet – 1913”, "Strange News from Another Star – 1915”, "A Difficult Path - 1917”, "Fine Dream Sequence – 1916”, "Faldum - 1916" and "Iris 1918”.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Read Chapter 1 of Deadly Strain by Julie Rowe

$1.24

Carina Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iBooks
Kobo

Military Romantic Suspense

Major Grace Samuels, a trauma surgeon deployed to Afghanistan, spends her life helping her fellow soldiers overcome disease and combat injuries. But her own wounds are harder to heal. Wracked with guilt over the death of a fellow soldier, she finds comfort in her only friend and appointed bodyguard, weapons sergeant Jacob “Sharp” Foster.

Sharp feels more for Grace than a soldier should, more than he wants to admit. When the team discovers a new, quick-to-kill strain of anthrax, he tries to focus on the mission to find its source. He knows he can help Grace defeat her demons, but first they must defeat the deadly outbreak.

Sharp is Grace’s most loyal ally, but in close quarters, he starts to feel like more. She can’t watch someone else she cares about die—but she might not have a choice. The closer they get to finding the source of the strain, the closer it gets to finding them.


The battle line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man. —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Chapter One

“I’m so dead.” Dr. Grace Samuels stared at the chessboard. There was no hope. None. Not a single move left open to her.
Except for one.
She sighed, shook her head at the patience on her opponent’s face. “I concede.”
“Want to know where you went wrong?” he asked as he cleared the board. He set the pieces up again. Those big hands of his could bandage a wounded soldier, field strip a 9 mm and box her into checkmate with equal skill.
“I sat down in this chair,” she answered with a straight face. The mess hall was busy with soldiers, American and Afghan alike, either beginning their day or ending their night.
“No,” he said. “You played the board.”
Grace thought about it for a second, but it still didn’t make any sense. Then again, it was 0600 and she’d only been up for twenty minutes. “Huh?”
Special Forces Weapons Sergeant Jacob “Sharp” Foster looked at her earnestly. “You played the board,” he repeated. “You should have been playing the man.”
He winked and she had to fight not to roll her eyes. When she first met him she’d thought his flirting was for real, and had been worried she’d have to shut him down. She didn’t want to, because he was hilarious, but the impropriety couldn’t be ignored. Then, she discovered when he wasn’t on the job, he had a wicked sense of humor, and everyone was a target.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to study you.” She leaned forward and made a show of giving him a thorough once-over.
He grinned and spread his hands wide. “By all means, study me.”
Sharp was a big man, about six-two, and she’d guess he weighed about two hundred pounds. He flexed his biceps and waggled his eyebrows in response to her joke. Though he had brown hair, with a mustache and beard to match, he had the lightest blue eyes she’d ever seen—like looking into glacial ice.
Right now, those eyes were challenging her. She just wasn’t sure if it was regarding the game or something she didn’t want to talk about. At all.
Unfortunately, Sharp wasn’t going to leave it alone. The chess game should have warned her. They usually played poker.
She watched him reset the chessboard while, for the first time in a week, letting her mind go back to the moment she realized she was in trouble. On her way to her quarters late at night. They’d arrived at Forward Operating Base Bostick the week before, and she’d been introduced to the base commander, Colonel Marshall. He’d barely spoken to her. So why was he waiting for her outside her quarters with clenched fists and a face so blank she knew he was in the grip of a powerful emotion?
The colonel wasn’t known for any kind of emotion.
She stopped several feet away. “What are you doing here at this hour, sir?”
One corner of his upper lip lifted in a sneer and he snarled, “I wanted a private conversation.”
His words triggered every internal red flag she had. “I don’t understand.”
Marshall’s response was two words. One name. “Joseph Cranston.”
A name she wished she could forget. “You…knew him?”
Scorn turned his words into weapons. “He was my son.”
Oh God.

Author Biography

Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the North West Territories and northern Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because, “Fiction has to be believable”. Julie writes contemporary and historical medical romance, fun romantic suspense and military romance. Her most recent titles are the MEN OF ACTION boxed set and VIRAL JUSTICE book #3 of the Biological Response Team series. 

You can find her at www.julieroweauthor.com , on Twitter @julieroweauthor or at her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor
 
Social Media Links
Twitter: @julieroweauthor

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Twisted: A Horror Anthology

$6.99

Amazon

The world is full of horrors if you’re a woman. Vengeful spirits, crazy cowboys, homicidal hillbillies, the grossest case of post-partum depression ever, possessed stuffed animals, and a demented Poseidon – to name a few. So what’s a girl to do?

Well, get this book for starters. Then try not to lose your marbles (or your lunch) as you go about your business after reading some of the most mind-bending horror around. Then you can share all the gory details with your fellow horror fans, if you think they can handle it.

Just remember, always keep it Twisted.

This tragic tome includes thirteen tales of terror from some of the hottest new names in the game:

Fountain of Youth
Rancho Viejo
Bringing Baby Home
Scavenger Hunt
Taste So Good
Progress
Blackpool Quarry
The Spectre
Karma Incarnate
Freeze Burned
Initiations
Mirror Mirror
A Strange End

*Not for readers under 18*

Murder In A Minute by Shouvik Bhattacharya

$2.99 or FREE for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers

Amazon

“People are essentially good, until they are caught.”

When a young woman is found lifeless in a pool of her own blood, everyone is convinced that it is her college sweetheart who murdered her.

The victim’s step-brothers, Rishabh and Arya aren’t so convinced. They embark on a journey to unearth the truth, a journey riddled with fallacies and conspiracies, planted intentionally to trap them.
Is there a connection between a missing blue envelope, a misplaced sweater and stray footprints in a room? Could those people they thought they knew so well be hiding dark secrets about their past? Or did their dead sister have more to hide than anyone involved?

With pressures mounting and suspicions looming, love will lose to ambition, greed will trump responsibility and deception would be common. Will the duo succeed in muddling through the convoluted clues on time, or will their first wrong step be their last?

Find out in the pulse-pounding suspense thriller …

Friday, April 7, 2017

ORCAstration: 5 Killer Whale Secrets To A Better Business And Life!

$9.99

Amazon

Everyone faces challenges. And every person, organization, company and team has to overcome negativity and adversity to define themselves and create their success. No one goes untested through life and the answer to the test is positive energy—the kind of energy that consists of passion, trust, enthusiasm, knowledge of purpose, and spirit that defines great leaders and their dreams.

But not everyone has sat on the back of the most feared predator in the universe. With the new controversies concerning the exploitation of killer whales, the number of individuals given this opportunity has become even smaller. These magnificent animals provided me with more than the audience’s applause and perceived adoration. They taught me about the greatness of teamwork—which I had forgotten until my heart attempted to give up on me.

This book is for managers, team leaders and those “non-business people” looking to turn negative energy into positive intention. ORCAstration provides a powerful blueprint for overcoming common life and work obstacles, while bringing out the best in your team (whether that be your partner, your three best friends, or your employees). This extraordinary self-improvement guide presents realistic strategies and concepts designed for those who want to achieve greatness. By shifting their primary focus to the internal success of others, and creating a passion-based existence, people can transform their life, relationships and career.

The Chocolate Comeback by Roxanne Snopek

$2.99


Fame, fortune and fashion: that’s aspiring model Deirdre Cash’s ideal life. But when her splashy New York career dries up, she swallows her pride and returns to Marietta, Montana, desperate for any work she can find.

Isaac Litton doesn’t want the intrusion of a home care aide for his brother, Mark. But when the young man takes a shine to DeeDee, Isaac decides to give her a chance. He can’t help but be impressed when DeeDee changes his brother’s life around, by rewarding healthy habits and exercising with treats from the Copper Mountain Chocolate Shop. Gorgeous and opinionated, DeeDee stirs everything up in the Litton household, including an attraction that Isaac can't deny.

As DeeDee and Isaac start to fall for each other, an unexpected opportunity arises that could launch DeeDee back into the modeling scene. It's her chance to achieve everything she's ever wanted. But taking it would mean letting down her friends at the chocolate shop, her family who believes in her, a boy who adores her, and a man who thinks she's already perfect, just the way she is.


CHAPTER ONE

Nothing marred a triumphant homecoming like the secret, certain knowledge of failure. But if modeling in New York City had taught Deirdre Cash anything, it was how to put on a good face, no matter what fresh chaos was breaking out around her.
She stood on the porch at her parents’ Montana ranch home, shivering—or rather, hyperventilating—in the frigid spring air while pretending to take an important call.
The screen door clanged open. “Is everything okay, DeeDee?” Mom, worried, as usual. Light, laughter, and warmth spilled out from behind the kitchen door. “Supper is waiting.”
Joanie Cash-Henley was never happier than when feeding her family, and DeeDee’s return had sent her into a cooking, cleaning, and caregiving frenzy.
DeeDee pasted on a smile and held her hand over the phone. “Everything’s great, Mom. Be right there.”
She loved her family with all her heart, but she’d rather they believe she was here because of crowd and camera fatigue instead of no callbacks and eviction. “I have to go, Jon,” she said, even though there was no one on the line.
Jon wasn’t speaking to her.
Her former agent, ex-lover, and worst mistake—though to be fair, there were a lot of contenders for that title—had dumped her three weeks ago, citing cosmetic surgery and a personality transplant as the only way to resurrect DeeDee’s languishing career.
DeeDee had responded by suggesting Jon perform an anatomically impossible act—only to later realize she’d proved his last point.
Impulse—one. Control—zero.
No heartbreak on either side; they’d been beneficial to each other for a time, but now they weren’t. So, what did a selfish, spoiled ex-model with few discernible skills and even fewer friends do when her bridge to the future lay in smoking ruins?
She went home. Where, as the saying went, they had to take you in.
It’s cold out, honey,” her mom said. “I’ll get you a sweater.”
It’s okay. I’m coming in now.”
Her mom took her arm, giving it a gentle tug as she led her inside. “You’re so thin. You need a good meal.”
Occupational hazard. I’m fine.”
DeeDee took her place at the table and pasted on her happy-daughter smile, hoping no one would notice anything amiss. Why would they? She’d used the same smile the last time she was home and everyone bought it, even though she’d been dying inside.
Norman, isn’t it wonderful to have all our girls home again?” She took Norm’s hand and gave it a squeeze on top of the table. Mom never did distinguish between DeeDee, Maddie, and Norm’s own daughter Cynthia.
I can’t thank you enough for coming home, DeeDee.” Cynthia’s eyes glistened as she raised her glass of water. Four months into her surprise pregnancy, DeeDee’s stepsister waffled between glowing and green. “I don’t know what I’d do if you hadn’t stepped in to save the day.”
Yes, unemployment had come at the perfect time. DeeDee could salvage Cynthia’s event-planning business and her own pride, all at the same time. Score.
Not.
Happy to be here,” she said, glancing around the table. “And a fashion-show fundraiser—how could I resist?”
Truth. Just not the whole truth.
Took you long enough.” Maddie, DeeDee’s twin, had nagged her to death about returning to Marietta. “I knew you’d come to your senses eventually.”
It’s great to finally meet you, DeeDee.” Mick, the man seated next to Maddie, gave her a teasing grin. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
I bet.” DeeDee arched a look between the two of them. Mick’s naturally scruffy-jawed appearance was the sort of thing stylists worked endlessly to recreate. She didn’t wish misery on anyone, but Maddie already had a career and an apartment… not to mention the good personality. How was it fair that she got a great guy, too?
Between Maddie and Mick, and Cynthia and her fiancé Chad, there was enough romance in the room to put a girl off her food.
And to remind DeeDee that she was now the only unattached daughter.
The third wheel.
The seventh person at a table for six.
The last lone banana on the rack that no one picked.
Men stared at DeeDee all the time. But never, not once, had one looked at her the way the men at this table did their women.
Everything smells great, Mom,” DeeDee said, trying to shift the conversation.
She’d left Montana by choice and in the pursuit of better things. In the meantime, her family’s lives had gone on without her. If she felt left out, left behind, well, what did she expect?
I, for one, am ready to dig in,” Norm said, holding out his hands to the person on either side of him. Everyone linked hands and bowed their heads while he said grace. Maddie caught DeeDee’s eye across the table. Despite her mood, DeeDee had to stifle a giggle.
Some things, at least, never changed.
Eat up, everyone.” Mom pressed the bread basket into DeeDee’s hand. “I made all your favorites, just the way you like. Lasagna with lots of cheese and spinach, garlic bread, and Caesar salad.”
As if.
DeeDee passed the basket to Maddie. “Mom, I haven’t eaten pasta or bread in months.”
I thought as much,” she said. “You can’t get good home cooking like this in New York City.”
Make sure to leave room for dessert.” Norm looked pleased, like he was announcing a special surprise. “I bought a gallon of rocky road ice cream, to celebrate.”
Her favorite.
Ice cream,” Cynthia murmured, putting down her fork. Her lips had gone white.
Is she going to…?” DeeDee looked at Chad, feeling her own stomach turn over. She’d always been a sympathetic puker.
I’m okay.” Cynthia swallowed. Reaching a shaking hand for her water glass, she brought it to her mouth, took a tiny sip, and swallowed.
Norman,” her mom said, oblivious to the other end of the table, “I baked lemon-meringue pie and DeeDee’s favorite chocolate cheesecake. You didn’t have to get ice cream, too.”
Cheesecake.
All I’ve got is my face and my figure,” DeeDee said, one eye on Cynthia. “Fatten me up too much and I’ll be living in your basement for the rest of my life.”
You’ve got more than that going for you.” Cynthia burped delicately. “Oops. Excuse me.”
Speaking of chocolate.” Maddie pushed her chair back and grabbed a package from the buffet. “I brought some of Sage’s salted-caramel chocolates, too. She says hi and welcome back, DeeDee.”
The famous Copper Mountain Chocolates. When would the torture end?
Since when are you pals with Sage Carrigan?” she asked. Due to their popularity with the male population, the Cash twins had never been overburdened with female friends.
Most people are pretty great when you take time to get to know them,” Maddie said. “You’ll see.”
Maybe. Maybe not. DeeDee had never seen the point in investing in relationships she wouldn’t be around long enough to enjoy.
I’ve got frozen yogurt for you anyway, Norman,” her mom added. “Last thing you need is pie.”
Like hell, woman.” Norm sent a wink DeeDee’s way. Maddie, Cynthia, and Mom started talking at once then, about Norm’s diet and exercise, his cardiologist’s recommendations, and how they each believed the other was pushing the man they all loved into an early grave.
DeeDee’s throat tightened as she returned Norm’s smile. Though he’d come late into their lives, the gentle man was the only father she and Maddie had ever known. She couldn’t bear it that they’d nearly lost him, that she hadn’t been here when it had happened, or that she’d clung to blissful ignorance rather than face the fact that she didn’t have the gonads to deal with pain.
Panic bubbled up in her chest.
She grabbed for the salad bowl and helped herself to an enormous serving of greens, sans croutons.
The garlic bread, dripping with herbed butter, smelled amazing, and the edge pieces of lasagna had extra cheese, bubbled and crispy from the oven. She scraped the cheese off a small inside piece as she watched everyone else enjoy the feast.
How nice it must be to not worry about every calorie that passed your lips.
And then it was time for dessert. The final gauntlet.
People keep asking what magazines you were in,” her mom said as she handed around plates. “I looked and looked, but I never saw you in them.”
It was the question DeeDee dreaded the most. “I wasn’t doing that kind of modeling, Mom. It’s a huge industry. There’s a lot more than magazines.”
Tell us about your average day,” Chad urged.
Now there was a face—and a personality—that New York would love. Chad could have a career doing orthodontia ads with that smile of his. He wasn’t just being polite, either. He was a genuinely nice guy—for a cowboy.
It’s pretty boring to outsiders.” DeeDee squirmed. There wasn’t much she loved more than attention. So why did her back itch like she’d contracted poison oak? “Hair and makeup. Changing outfits a million times. Sitting around while you wait for the stage manager and the photographer to quit feuding, or for the light to cooperate. That sort of thing.”
That’s why I knew you’d be the perfect one to help with the fundraiser.” Cynthia’s face was the color of seafoam. She shook her head at the plate that was offered to her.
How’s the cheesecake?” her mom asked.
DeeDee forked a small piece into her mouth. The crunchy cookie crush contrasted with the smooth cream cheese, which made the bittersweet dark chocolate layer even more intense. She groaned. “Even better than I remembered.”
To think we have a real, live celebrity in our family,” Norm said to Cynthia. “Tell us more, DeeDee.”
Cynthia shoved her chair back and ran from the table, fingers pressed to her mouth.
Is she like this all the time?” DeeDee asked.
Comes and goes.” Chad got up to follow his fiancée. “But mostly, yeah. You see why she needs you. Carry on.”
She’d rather not. The conversation, not to mention Cynthia’s nausea, was making her stomach hurt. DeeDee toyed with her dessert, buying time.
She had plenty of stories to entertain them with. It had been so much fun, at first. Eccentric designers, flamboyant photographers, bigger-than-life characters, narcissism galore, ambition and egos everywhere, everything bright, sparkly, and pretty.
But how quickly the glamour had faded. Those first few weeks of excitement turned first to routine, then to boredom, then to anxiety as she spent more and more time waiting around, listening to the other girls complain about their high-rent condos, hearing about parties she wasn’t invited to, boyfriends they didn’t appreciate, food they wanted but couldn’t have, and drugs they weren’t supposed to have but often did.
Suddenly, DeeDee needed to get out of there. She pushed back her chair abruptly.
This has been wonderful, Mom, but I’m wiped.” She needed to get some air, to not have any more questions thrown at her, or mine fields unknowingly tripped. Her stomach twisted again, another ulcer, probably.
But you haven’t finished your cheesecake.” Disappointment creased her mom’s forehead.
I’ll take it to go. Mick, Maddie, do you mind? Jet lag and all.” DeeDee gave a great, huge yawn that wasn’t entirely an act.
Don’t forget Sage’s caramels.” Mom pressed the package into DeeDee’s hand. The copper ribbon was undone, releasing the rich, buttery caramel scent, underscored by cocoa. “Get some rest, honey. Love you. See you soon, right?”
You bet, Mom. Love you, too. Thanks for everything.”
You leaving already?” Cynthia reappeared, Chad at her side.
Yup, sorry, exhausted. I’ll talk to you about the show tomorrow, okay, Cyn?”
While Maddie and Mick gathered their things, DeeDee escaped to the porch once more. She bent over slightly, her hands on her thighs, and sucked the cool evening air into her lungs. She’d forgotten how great fresh air tasted.
She’d forgotten how great a lot of things tasted.
It was better that way.
You okay, DeeDee?” Mick asked as he walked to his pickup truck.
Fabulous. Spectacular.”
DeeDee had hitched a ride with Mick and Maddie, and now he drove them back to Maddie’s apartment in town. DeeDee suspected she was cramping their style by bunking with her twin, but honestly, that was too bad for them. DeeDee would go mad if she had to stay in her old room at the ranch with their parents.
Besides, Maddie spent half her time at Mick’s place, a rat-infested fishing lodge or something, out on the lake. It wasn’t like he and Maddie would have to make out in the truck like teenagers.
Here are the keys,” Maddie said when they arrived at her apartment complex. “Go ahead. I’m going to say goodnight to Mick.”
They were going to make out in the truck like teenagers.
DeeDee grimaced. “I hope you’ve got wine.”
Maddie tossed her the Copper Mountain Chocolates. “Better.”
Chocolate she shouldn’t eat. Stories she wouldn’t tell. Regrets she couldn’t escape.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Rescuing Your Relationship by Jason M. Ortiz

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Relationships hit walls and rocky roads, no matter what you think you are doing to avoid them. When an argument comes about, or angry words are shared, no matter the discrepancies in the relationship, suffering is almost guaranteed to accompany them. In those very moments, words of care and concern may not be enough to fix the scars that have been placed in the relationship. There needs to be much more to work on fixing the pain injected into the relationship.

You have to be willing to understand the needed steps, the timing it takes, the right words and actions that go along with rescuing a relationship. Most of rescuing relationships is about working on self. Be ready to walk out this book with a feeling of self-improvement.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Secrets to Metabolism Boosting - FREE

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