Blog Tour and Giveaway: Desires by Galia Ryan

Anna is one of Elite Escort Agency's most popular call girls. She is quite comfortable living in the lap of luxury and pleasing a variety of wealthy men on her own terms; however, she longs to return to respectability. Only now she is accustomed to the best of everything. So Anna embarks on a quest to discover what else she is good for, other than dazzling every man who crosses her path.

Anna's calm is shattered when a former client resurfaces. A few years earlier Adam introduced Anna to bondage and submission. But although he held her in his thrall, Adam overestimated his power. When he demanded total surrender, she cut herself off from him forever. Now Adam is asking to see her again. Initially she refuses, but what can she do? She can't stop thinking about him.

The owner of Elite, Stephanie, is also haunted by memories of a former lover--Giancarlo, now married and dedicated to charitable work. When, after ten years, they come together once more, neither can resist the pull of their unresolved past, despite the possible consequences to Giancarlo's career.

Desires is Book 3 of the Luxuria Trilogy. It completes the cycle that began with Anna's story in Choices and Stephanie's in Secrets.

EXCERPT:

Adam was at the bar, nursing a tall glass of beer when she arrived. Thankfully the place wasn’t overly full, leaving her to assume most of the after-work drinkers had gone home, while those looking for late night excitement hadn’t yet turned up.

As if sensing her presence, he glanced up and she caught her breath. Nearly a year, and it could have been yesterday.

To describe him as attractive was to do him a disservice. He was dangerous, compelling. Masculine rather than handsome. His eyes were still dark and fathomless, and his hair as short as ever. Even the evidence of a long ago broken nose continued to work in his favour, since it gave the impression he might have once relished unsafe pursuits.

He had. Not long after they’d met she asked about the injury. He told her it was a long time ago, when he was young and foolish. He’d become involved in an argument, that was all.

“A fight!” She had laughed and shook her head as if in disapproval. “Over money or a woman?”

“Both.”

“And the scar?” She had lightly touched the whitened line above his jaw.

“A sailing accident.”

Even now, she was not sure she believed him.

A table of young execs—ties undone, suit jackets hanging on the back of their chairs—looked up as she passed.

She hoped she appeared more confident than she felt. What was the etiquette for such a meeting? Would Adam welcome her by sliding an arm around her waist, or would that be too intimate? Perhaps he would place a hand lightly on her shoulder instead.

And what about her? Should she lean in, offer her cheek for a polite kiss? They had a history of intimacy, after all.

He solved the problem by smiling broadly and pulling out a tall stool for her.

“You look great,” he said admiringly.

“So do you. “She meant it. He’d always worn a lot of black, and the ebony cashmere sweater and long trench coat suited him.

“So, how are you?” She perched cautiously on the stool, crossing one leg over the other.

“Good. You?” He was still smiling and shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe she was there.

“Same.”

Any enthusiasm she might have had for the meeting was disappearing fast. She hoped this was not to be the way the evening went. Awkward conversation skirting the true purpose of their meeting.

He was indicating the rows of bottles displayed behind the bar. “What would you like?”

A stiff drink appealed, but he didn’t need to know that.

“A glass of white wine. Sauvignon blanc.”

“You surprise me.”

“Really?”

“I was expecting Champagne.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Am I so predictable?”

The moment the words were out of her mouth she regretted them.

“I would say you are the least predictable person I know,” he said calmly.

• 2 Digital Copies of CHOICES
• 2 Digital Copies of SECRETS
• 2 Digital Copies of DESIRES

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

Convent-educated from the age of four, Galia Ryan was brought up not to question. Perhaps because of this, she has always been fascinated by all things esoteric and “outside the square.” Originally from Sussex, England, and now living in New Zealand with her soul-mate husband and grown-up family, Galia tries to find time between her passions for writing and reading and for her other love—travel. There is always a growing list of must-see places. Desires is the third novel in the Luxuria Trilogy, which began with Choices. Book 2, Secrets, tells Stephanie’s story. Galia is currently working on an anthology of short stories. You can find her on the Web at: Galiaryan.fannypress.com.

Social Links:  
Website ● Amazon ● Facebook ● Goodreads 

Buy Links:
Amazon 

Tour Coordinator:



Please check out the other stops on this tour today:

This post contains Affiliate Links.

Review and Giveaway: Her Savage Scot by Christina Phillip

Heartbreak and treachery find Aila at every turn in her life. She’s finally accepted her fate and found peace with herself and others in the monastery. Then Conner Mackenzie enters her life. Conner makes her want things she hasn’t wanted in years. But again, things are never as they seem.

I found myself drawn to the sexy and gentle warrior, Conner. He was tough enough to fight and save those who needed it, yet gentle enough to win over Aila.

Aila’s story broke my heart. I wanted her to find love, happiness, but it just didn’t seem she would ever get it.

Conner is stubborn and pig-headed and proud. I wanted to smack him on the head so many times. All he had to do was open his mouth and tell Aila what he was thinking, feeling. But instead of doing that, he let her suffer. Of course, he didn’t exactly know what was going on. He is a guy after all.

Aila could have as easily said something to Conner. But in her defense, she didn’t know he could be trusted. She had already been betrayed and she wasn’t certain where Conner stood. She was fierce and brave. She was willing to risk everything to save Conner.

The first part of the book moved a little slow for me. But soon I was drawn into the intrigue of the Scots versus the Picts. This was a new time period for me. Most of the highlander stories I’ve read are later in time. So, part of the dragging for me could have been me learning more about this time period.

I will definitely be reading more on this series and from this author!

About the Author:

Christina loves writing dark tales set in the 9th century featuring tough Highland warriors who are brought to their knees by their brave Pictish princesses.

She is published by Ellora’s Cave and Berkley Heat and has dipped her toe in the indie pub waters. She is a member of the Romance Writers of Australia, Romance Writers of America, the DarkSide Down Under Group Blog and Historical Hearts Group Blog.

Christina is an ex-pat Brit who now lives in sunny Western Australia with her family. She is also owned by three gorgeous cats who are convinced the universe revolves around their needs. They are not wrong.

Excerpt:

She lifted her head and Connor’s lips brushed hers. A fleeting, tantalizing touch. A touch that seared her core with a wild, reckless longing.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you since the first moment I saw you.”

His ragged whisper scorched her parted lips. She hadn’t been mistaken. “I thought you far from interested that first day. You surely didn’t give any indication of your thoughts.”

He moved closer. The breadth of his shoulders blocked out the rest of the world, his white linen shirt sculpted his impressive chest. And the weave of his plaid branded her through the softness of her gown.

“How could I? You were an aloof Pictish lady and I a mere savage Scot.”

She leaned into him, soaking up the hard ridges of his chest, the fresh scent of his hair, the faint sweetness of mead on his breath. “So what has changed?”

“Nothing.” His fingers tightened around hers and his eyes enslaved her. “Yet everything.”

His words curled through her heart, shimmered in her blood. Nothing. Yet everything. The chance of them having a future together was remote. And yet she had been given this time with him. Moments to savor, to cherish. To remember for the rest of her life.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: Have I Told You by F.L. Jacob

Warning: There is a rape scene and attempted rape scene in this book.

There are many things I like about Have I Told and there are some thing I didn’t like. It really was a mixed bag for me. So, for this review, I’ll just run through things as they hit me and see where we end up!

The concept of Have I Told You is one that I like. Uber-hot, Uber-rich, young business man takes a liking to a college student. He pursues her, wins her, life goes on. I like this concept. It’s the fairy tale, the white knight whisking the princess off into the sunset for a little HEA. Who wouldn’t like that?

When Caston saw Sabrina dance, he became enthralled with her. So much so, it actually became a bit stalkerish. When Sabrina found out, she was mad at first but then forgave him. Their initial meeting (not at the dance recital, it was actually month later) was very sweet. Caston came to Sabrina’s rescue and whisked her away someplace safe. It was at this point I got a very Fifty Shades of Gray feeling to the book. This feeling continued for a bit then went away. While I had that feeling at the beginning, it disappeared in the middle. Then, toward the end, that feeling came back.

In the beginning Caston was very alpha male and set out to protect Sabrina at any cost. I loved it. Then later in the book, he became co-dependent on Sabrina. The co-dependency came across as whiny to me. I couldn’t see the alpha-male that Caston started out as. He seemed to disappear before my very eyes.

I became very frustrated with Caston as well. He had plenty of opportunity to tell Sabrina about Beverly but he kept putting it off. This is information she needed in order to protect himself and her, yet he kept putting it off. It was very frustrating to me.

My other frustration came in with the dialogue. The conversation themselves worked very well and carried the storyline. However, there was a limited use of contractions and so the dialogue felt very stiff and formal at times. I ended up reading certain conversations over again and inserted in my own contractions to make it flow.

I loved the flip between Sabrina and Caston. It worked very well for this story and was easy to follow. It also added in the extra depth of knowing what was going on with each of them. There were only a couple of places where we back-tracked in time when flipping POVs. However, those few times worked and it didn’t create any redundancy for me.

The steamy scenes between Caston and Sabrina were really good. They were hot and lent themselves to the storyline. My only problem was I felt like they had sex so much, I don’t know when they talked and go to know each other. So, that kind of deterred me a bit.

Now, I’m not real big on F/F scenes. In ménage situations I like for there to be two males and 1 female and straight F/F is not my thing. That being said, there is a scene between Sabrina and another female that is so totally hot! It takes place on a dance floor and OMG! Then later we have a scene with the same female and Sabrina in an airplane along with Caston and another guy. OMG! That was scorching hot. Didn’t matter is was a LOT of F/F interaction, it was HOT!

We’re left with a cliffhanger at the end of this story. I will be reading the next one because I want to see what happens. In spite of my problems with part of the story, I did enjoy the concept and overall storyline. I’m invested in these characters and I want to know what happens!

Find it on GoodReads!

Author Bio

I am a mommy of two, wife to an amazing man, and full time employee. Life is crazy and my love for reading had fizzled over the years but thanks to a wonderful group of ladies that I met last year I started reading again. Their love for books turned me on to many great writers who I would have never discovered if I hadn't started reading again! 

I started writing for them. They brought out my love for writing that I haven’t seen in years. Starting this process was tedious and nerve wrecking, but my lovely ladies and my fabulous husband have inspired me to take my love for writing to the next step.

a Rafflecopter giveaway