Hello lovely bookish friends. Today, is the release blitz of EVERYTHING I LOVE by A.K. Evans! I have an exclusive excerpt to share with you and a giveaway at the end. Check it out and don’t forget to grab your copy.

Title: EVERYTHING I LOVE

Author: A.K. Evans

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Nikki Drake was just nine years old when she experienced her first heartbreak. Sixteen years and many betrayals later, she’s learned that life is what you make of it. Needing to leave the poison behind, Nikki joins her best friends and moves from the warm, sunny beaches of California to the cold, snowy mountains of Wyoming. She’s a loving and faithful friend who’s built a successful career despite the disappointments she’s experienced. While her past hasn’t stopped her from working hard and becoming a genuine and confident woman, it has affected one small part of her. Nikki refuses to give her heart to anyone ever again.

Luke Townsend is a man most women dream about. Underneath his tall, handsome exterior he’s charming, compassionate, sensitive and loyal. A dedicated snowboarder, Luke knows what it means to work hard for what he wants. And what Luke wants is Nikki.

When Luke tells Nikki he’s fallen in love with her, she’s devastated to think she’s going to hurt him the same way others have hurt her. Having resolved to live a life without romantic love, Nikki rejects Luke. Luke can sense that she needs some time so he walks away, vowing to find a way to her heart.

Three months after she pushed him away, Nikki decides to take a chance on Luke. He is patient and understanding while she struggles to allow herself to be vulnerable with him and to find the courage to trust he won’t hurt her. But when Nikki finally hands her heart of to him, Luke shatters her world with the truth.

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“Luke,” I began to protest.

“Please give me this, Nikki.” His pleading voice was strained. “Let me take care of you tonight.”

I’d never heard such raw emotion in his voice. I couldn’t say no, so I stretched my body out on the couch and rested my head in his lap. His hand immediately went to my hair while his other arm draped over my body just below my breasts.

My eyes found his as his hand stroked through the hair on my head. It was nice. Within minutes, I felt my eyelids grow heavy. I tried to fight to stay awake, but I couldn’t. I was too exhausted. In fact, I was so tired that I was sure I started dreaming. Luke was in my dream, cradling my head in his lap and stroking my hair.

He was doing that, providing me with comfort I hadn’t had since before my dad left, when I heard him say with such determination it felt like a promise, “I’m going to put you back together, baby girl.”

Even though it was odd, and likely because I was dreaming, I accepted his promise and whispered, “It won’t be easy.”

“You’ll be worth it.”

The next morning, I woke up alone, tucked in my bed. I realized that Luke must have brought me to my bedroom last night, where it seemed he took the liberty to make me comfortable. He removed my shoes, jeans, shirt, and bra, but left me in a camisole and panties.

For a brief moment, I allowed myself to recall the dream I had. In bringing that to the forefront of my mind, I realized just how much I wished it were true. I wished someone would have the determination to put me back together knowing it wouldn’t be easy, but still believing I’d be worth it.

I wished that someone was Luke.

More than that, I wished I had the courage to let him.

A.K. Evans is a married mother of two boys residing in a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania. After graduating from Lafayette College in 2004 with two degrees (one in English and one in Economics & Business), she pursued a career in the insurance and financial services industry. Not long after, Evans realized the career was not for her. She went on to manage her husband’s performance automotive business and drive the shop race cars for the next thirteen years. While the business afforded her freedoms she wouldn’t necessarily have had in a typical 9-5 job, after eleven years she was no longer receiving personal fulfillment from her chosen career path. Following many discussions, lots of thought, and tons of encouragement, Andrea decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer.

Between her day job, writing, and homeschooling her two boys, Evans is left with very little free time. When she finds scraps of spare time, she enjoys reading, doing yoga, watching NY Rangers hockey, dancing, and vacationing with her family. Andrea, her husband, and her children are currently working on taking road trips to visit all 50 states (though, Alaska and Hawaii might require flights).

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Owl Eyes: A Fairy Tale
Molly Lazer
Publication date: March 20th 2018
Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Young Adult

Nora knows three things: she is a servant, her parents are dead, and she lives in the kitchen house with her adoptive family. But her world is torn apart when she discovers that her birth father has always been right there, living in the house she serves.

This discovery leads Nora to more questions. Why was she thrown in an ash-covered room for asking about her father? Why is a silver-bladed knife the only inheritance from her birth mother? Why is magic forbidden in her household—and throughout the province of the Runes? The answers may not be the ones Nora hoped for, as they threaten a possible romance and her relationship with the adoptive family she loves.

With the announcement of a royal ball, Nora must decide what she is willing to give up in order to claim her stolen birthright, and whether this new life is worth losing her family—and herself.

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excerpt

“Hi.”

I shot up from the bed, screaming, and scrambling backwards before falling off the mattress onto the planked wood floor. A boy crouched next to me with his elbows balanced on his knees and his chin resting against his palms. He wore an old, light blue shirt that was much too large for his small frame. A piece of hay stuck up from the mop of brown hair on his head.

“Jack!” Liana called from the kitchen. “Don’t wake Nora.”

“Too late,” the boy called back.

“Who are you?” I pressed my hand to my chest to keep my heart in place. “Why were you watching me sleep?”

“I wasn’t watching you sleep,” the boy said. “Peter and me just got back from the Market, and I got up here and found you on my mattress.”

“Your—” I sputtered. I took a deep breath and tried to inhale the motherwort from the candle. “This is my bed.”

“Well, no one said it was yours, did they? I claimed this bed when I got here, and no one made a peep.” He crossed his arms and looked at the floor. “They were probably too worried if you were okay to care about where I was sleeping. You looked pretty rotten.”

“I was sick,” I said, staking my spot on the mattress again.

“No, I mean you actually looked like you’d rotted. Your skin was all black. Are you sure you’re not a spirit who’s talking to me now?”

I grabbed his arm and pressed my palm to his. “No spirit,” I said. “I’m here.”

He grinned. I shoved him on the floor.

“I’m Jack,” he said as he picked himself up.

“Nora.”

“Are you Greta and Peter’s daughter?”

“No.” I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. They were true, but I chewed them like a lie. “I mean yes. Sort of.”

“How are you only ‘sort of’ their daughter?”

“I mean, yes, I’m their daughter. They’re just not my real parents. My real parents are dead. Or gone. Or something. My mother is dead.” I was rambling. I pulled the candle closer to the mattress, hearing Greta’s voice in my ear warning me that the flame could catch the straw on fire. I didn’t care. I lowered my face and breathed in.

“Does your ma’s spirit ever talk to you?” Jack asked.

“What?” I stared at him. “That’s stupid. How old are you that you still think that can happen?”

“I’m thirteen.” Defensiveness crept into his voice. “And I only asked because I can talk to my pa anytime I want to. Or at least I could when we lived in the Vale. His spirit lives in the river there.”

Sir Alcander had hired a crazy person to work in the kitchen house.

“No, he doesn’t.”

“He does so! I’ll show you sometime, and you’ll see.”

I flopped back down on the mattress and rolled over so I was facing away from him, pulling the candle to the other side with me. I could feel Jack watching me.

“Your ma is nice,” I said, still not facing him.

“Thanks. I think so too.” There, finally, was something we agreed on. “I’m going to bed now. You can keep your spot. I didn’t want it anyway.” I peeked over my shoulder. Jack lay down on a new mattress I hadn’t noticed next to the wall.

“Thanks,” I said. In the dim light of the candle, his eyes looked almost gold. I smiled.

“It’s all right,” he said. “I can sleep almost anywhere as long as I’ve got enough space. I don’t like feeling closed up in small places.” The dark room pulsed behind me. “Me neither.”

Now we had two things in common.

abouttheauthor

Author Bio:

Molly Lazer is a former associate editor at Marvel Comics, where she worked on books such as Fantastic Four, Captain America, New Avengers, and cult favorite comic book Spider-Girl. After returning to graduate school to receive a degree in education, she began a career as a high school reading, writing, and drama teacher. She also serves as a professional critiquer for Comics Experience, helping aspiring comic book writers finesse scripts for publication.

In 2016, Molly received a MFA in Creative Writing from Rosemont College. Her short stories have been featured in numerous literary magazines including Gone Lawn, LIT, and Silver Blade. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and twin sons. Owl Eyes is her first novel.

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