Deeper than the Ocean by Julie Ann Walker – Spotlight and Giveaway

May 31, 2021 By 2 Comments

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Julie Ann Walker who is celebrating today’s release of Deeper Than the Ocean, the fourth book in her Deep Six series.

 

Five Things You Might Not Know About Key West

Hey all you romantic suspense readers out there! Julie Ann Walker here, celebrating the release of the fourth book in my bestselling Deep Six series, DEEPER THAN THE OCEAN, by sharing with you five things you might not know about Key West. (BTW, that’s the setting for this book. And if you haven’t visited, you really should!)

Without further ado, here we go!

1) The place is overrun with chickens, otherwise known as “jungle fowl.” You’ll hear a rooster crow at dawn and see a hen escorting her brood across Duval Street—the main drag which is home to t-shirt stores, bars, and souvenir shops. Chickens on Key West are as common a sight as a Key Lime pie!

2) Natives to the island are known as “Conchs”, pronounced “konks” with a hard K on the end. And if you’re a transplant to Key West and have resided there for seven or more years, you are crowned with the honorary title: Freshwater Conch. (Here you thought a conch was simply a pretty pink shell, right?)

3) Key West is known as “The End of the Road” because it is quite literally the end of Highway 1, considered the southernmost point in the continental U.S. The island is closer to Cuba than it is to Miami!

4) The setting of the sun is a daily celebration. Seriously! Every evening at sunset, crowds gather in Mallory Square to watch that gilded orb sink into the ocean. The instant it disappears, everyone cheers.

5) Judy Blume lives on Key West and is an integral part of the creative community there. I grew up reading Blume’s books and can’t help but feel extra authory anytime I visit her island home!

Ray “Wolf” Roanhorse took one look at Chrissy and knew she was the woman of his dreams. There’s a hitch, however. He screwed things up with her. Big time. Now all she wants is to be friends. He’ll have to be his most charismatic and charming self if he has any hope of changing her mind. And winning her heart.

Christina Szarek knows all about sexy, brooding men like Wolf. She grew up watching her mother fall for – and be broken by – plenty of them. If she had her way, she’d avoid Wolf altogether. But they’re partners in the hunt for the Santa Cristina’s legendary treasure. Avoidance is impossible. And the longer she’s near him, the more he chips away at the walls she’s erected against him.

The danger to Chrissy doesn’t only come from her burgeoning feelings, however. There are mysterious players who would see her silenced – for good. And Wolf, with his wicked grin and spec-ops training, is all that stands between her and a date with death in the deep.

About the Author: A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Julie loves to travel the world looking for views to compete with her deadlines. And if those views happen to come with a blue sky and sunshine? All the better! When she’s not writing, Julie enjoys camping, hiking, cycling, fishing, cooking, petting every dog that walks by her, and… reading, of course!

Be sure to sign up for Julie’s occasional newsletter on her website.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

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Ride the Tide by Julie Ann Walker – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 17, 2020 By Leave a Comment

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Julie Ann Walker who is celebrating the upcoming release of Ride the Tide, the third book in her Deep Six series. Enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the post for a chance to win a set of Hell or High Water and Devil and the Deep, the first two books in the series.

Once a fighter, always a fighter…

Former Navy SEAL Mason McCarthy is done being a fighting man. Now he and the Deep Six Salvage crew are working feverishly to find the wreck of the Santa Cristina and its legendary sunken treasure. Unfortunately for Mason’s peace of mind, chatty, brilliant historian Alexandra Merriweather has joined the hunt and there’s no avoiding her. Alex is exactly the kind of distraction Mason can’t afford right now…or maybe ever.

When a murderous enemy from Mason’s past threatens the Deep Six, he must rely on old instincts and the skills he honed from years of running black ops to make sure nothing touches Alexandra. But with their lives on the line and the adrenaline running high, it’s inevitable that sparks will fly.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Mason “Monet” McCarthy had a problem.

She was five feet tall. Had curly red hair that was only fifty percent tamed under the best of conditions, and one hundred percent out of control this early in the morning. And she was sitting at a table by the window watching the multicolored ships of the shrimp fleet as they rocked precariously with the wave action out near the horizon while her fingers absently fiddled with the corner of a book.

Oh, and she was also studiously ignoring him.

She was wicked good at that last part. Was making a frickin’ hobby of it, as a matter of fact. Not that he could blame her, considering what she’d offered him.

And what he’d turned down.

Her name was Alexandra Merriweather. Alex for short, which was a ridiculously masculine moniker for such a tiny wisp of a woman. One with skin like porcelain, eyes the color of Colombian emeralds, and a laugh as sweet and tinkling as a music box.

She was his problem because…well…he liked her. Like, liked her liked her. And if his cheating ho of a wife… Scratch that. Rewind… That would be his cheating ho of an ex-wife—had taught him anything, it was that he wasn’t fit to like a woman like Alex.

Not anymore.

All the years schlepping his ass through countless missions, maiming and killing in the name of the flag, had turned him into something…not normal.

That was the phrase Sarah had used when he came home early to surprise her for her birthday, but instead found her screwing his ex-best friend in their marriage bed. Surprise!

“What d’you expect, Mason?” Sarah’s expression had been so sincere. “You’re gone all the time, and when you’re here, you’re not normal.”

Copy that. When it came to a life of violence, the effects were biological, physiological, and psychological. It was the price of being a warrior.

So even though he’d been heartbroken by her betrayal, he’d never worked up much anger over it. Then and now, there was no way to deny the truth. Mason McCarthy was no longer capable of living an ordinary life with the house, the wife, and the two-point-three kids.

The only reason he was sitting in this hotel bar now, a bona fide civilian, was because of a deathbed promise he and the rest of his teammates had made to Rusty Lawrence, the eighth man in their SEAL unit. Barring that, Mason figured he would’ve kept on running and gunning until he found the bullet with his name on it.

With a fingertip, he traced the scrolling black letters inked on the inside of his left forearm. For RL they read. Picturing Rusty’s craggy face, he tried to determine whether to curse the sorry sonofabitch or thank him for forcing them all to make that vow and wave their fond farewells to the navy.

A call of “G’morning, asshole!” cut into his thoughts. Turning, he found Ray “Wolf” Roanhorse standing behind him.

Since he’d yet to determine how good the morning was or wasn’t, Mason grunted his reply. Wolf, used to Mason’s wordless responses, bent to scratch Meat’s exposed belly.

The fat English bulldog slept on his back beside Mason’s barstool, dick and balls on display for the entire breakfast crowd, and his snores nearly drowning out the cries of the seagulls coming in through the hotel’s open windows.

Meat was the only thing Mason had taken from the divorce. He’d let Sarah have their restored three-decker in Southie, along with the furniture and all the minutia that went with a “normal” life. But Meat? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but he’d have crossed hell with nothing but a bucket of ice water before he’d let her keep his dog.

“A wise woman once said, ‘If you risk nothin’, you risk everythin’.’” With the unaffected ease that came with being supremely fit, Wolf settled himself onto the barstool next to Mason’s.

The two of them had become instant friends when they’d been teamed up as swim partners way back in BUD/S—Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL—training. And through all the intervening years, Wolf had never run out of inspirational quotes. He fancied himself a scholar of the world’s philosophers and religions.

There were times, including this one, when that could get damned annoying.

Instead of answering, Mason kept quiet. He hoped his silence conveyed his wish for more coffee and less talk.

“I said,” Wolf said louder, “a wise woman once—”

“First off,” Mason muttered irritably, “what part of this face”—he pointed to his scowling mug—“makes you think I’m in the mood for morning convo?”

“You’re never in the mood for conversation,” Wolf drawled, his Oklahoma accent making the words sound twice as long as they normally would. “Don’t matter what time of day it is.”

“Second off,” Mason went on as if Wolf hadn’t spoken, “what’s that supposed to mean anyway? If you risk nothing, you risk everything?”

“It means you should pull your head from your ass and go for it. Take her up on what she’s offerin’.” Wolf stuck a cocktail straw between his teeth and hailed the bartender to put in an order for a Bloody Mary. Hitching his chin toward Alex’s table, he added, “Come on, man. You know you want to.”

Mason hadn’t been kidding when he said he wasn’t in the mood to talk. But he sure as shit wasn’t in the mood to talk about Alex and her heart-stopping offer.

***
Excerpted from Ride the Tide by Julie Ann Walker. © 2020 by Julie Ann Walker. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. 

About the Author:Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Julie grew up in a house full of women – she has three older sisters. As you can imagine, there was no lack of drama… or romance. Her mother enrolled her in a book club as soon as she began to read and it was the small spark that ignited her voracious appetite for the written word.

Because of Julie’s early immersion in literature, she found writing came quite naturally. In high school, she won multiple writing contests and was the proud senior editor of The Tiger’s Tale – her school newspaper.

During her college years, however, she longed for a challenge. “Reading and writing felt like second nature to me, so I looked for a way to flex my mental muscles,” she recalls. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree, Julie began teaching advanced high school mathematics.

“I loved working with the students and facing the challenges of the classroom, but I longed for the occasional snow day when I could race to the local book store, buy two or three new novels, and curl up in front of the fire to read.”

It wasn’t until a fortuitous move to Chicago that Julie once more returned to her first passion.

Now Julie loves to travel the world looking for views to compete with her deadlines. When she’s not writing, she enjoys camping, hiking, cycling, cooking, petting every dog that walks by her, and… reading, of course!

Website | Facebook | Twitter | BookBub | Instagram

Buy the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, or Kobo.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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IN MOONLIGHT AND MEMORIES by Julie Ann Walker – Spotlight

June 13, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Julie Ann Walker who is celebrating today’s release of In Moonlight and Memories.

An epic tale of sacrifice, friendship, and the awe-inspiring power of love.

Maggie: Ten years ago, Cash Armstrong stole my heart. Then he promptly joined the army—dragging my best friend with him—and left me crying on the front porch in a red sequined prom dress. Now he’s back. They’re both back. Cash, the one who still has my heart. And Luc, the one who saved my life.

Cash: How do you know if you’re at the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out since a traumatic brain injury made me “unfit to serve.” I’m back in New Orleans, and picking up the shattered pieces of my past means I must confront where my life’s journey began… and where it all might end.

Luc: Long ago, Maggie May was mine. Not mine in the way you might think. She was mine because she was my only friend. Then Cash came along and we became brothers by something stronger than blood. We became brothers by choice. When tragedy struck, I was forced to make a decision that changed all our lives. I thought, after ten years, it was safe to come back home. I was wrong…

Enjoy an Excerpt

Cash caps his flask and runs an unsteady finger over the initials on the outside of it. His words are slightly slurred when he asks, “You think people have a right to happiness? Or should it be something you have to work for?”

Here we go. Another exercise in abstract thinking. I don’t know if it’s the head injury, the booze, or the combination of both that’s been making him so reflective these last few months. But whatever it is, it’s starting to concern me. Not because I think philosophizing is a bad thing. But because it’s not like him.

Cash has always been a man who acts first and asks questions later.

“Isn’t a right to happiness one of the fundamental ideals we hold dear as Americans?” Maggie frowns. “I mean, it’s part of the Declaration of Independence, for Pete’s sake.”

“That’s the right to pursue happiness,” I tell her, absently splitting a blade of crab grass and tying the two pieces together into a loose knot. “It’s not the right to happiness.”

She cocks her head. “What’s the difference?”

“One lets you sit on your ass and wait for a good life to come your way. The other says you gotta go out and grab the good life by the balls.”

Cash motions to the activity around us. “And look at all these people grabbing the good life by the balls.”

The Fly is a large swath of green space in Audubon Park. It nestles up against the east bank of the Mississippi and is a favorite spot among locals. It’s here that the good folks of New Orleans come to toss Frisbees, take their dogs for walks, and picnic while watching some of the city’s most spectacular sunsets.

Leaning back on my elbows, I stretch my legs out in front of me. A soft breeze blows by, making the grass sway. The river smells ancient in a way that’s hard to describe. And the sounds of laughter, conversation, and music drift around us. A symphony of humanity.

“Happiness is like anything else in life,” I add. “You have to choose it.” When I pin Maggie with a pointed look, she bites her bottom lip and glances down at her phone, thumbing the screen to avoid my eyes. “Some folks who have the world at their feet are never satisfied. Always looking for something better or different or closer to what they used to have,” I continue mercilessly. “While other folks who seem to have nothing at all couldn’t be happier.”

I hitch my chin toward a group of men and women sitting in a circle on the grass about thirty yards away. Ratty clothes and unwashed hair tell the story of their dire straits. And yet each and every one of them is laughing and joking. And when the guy strumming an old beat-up guitar switches to a new tune, they sway together and sing their hearts out. The sound is pure joy.

Maggie follows my line of sight. “Aunt Bea says a hardscrabble life in New Orleans is better than living on Easy Street anywhere else.”

Cash snorts. “What would Miss Bea know about hardscrabble? She’s as rich as Croesus, thanks to her husband and his fucked-up brain veins.”

Taking Kamagra Tablets for Super Stamina and Performance Now the big question is: what can make you super energetic and levitra uk cute-n-tiny.com productive? Well, medicines such as kamagra tablets or oral jelly. DRUG INTERACTIONS: Sildenafil increases the effects of the blood cialis price the original source circulation. If you’re suffering from sleep problems due to stress, cute-n-tiny.com super active tadalafil a simple meditation will do you good. Yes, when many of us cannot find a partner to seek satisfaction elsewhere. cheap tadalafil tablets I glance at him sharply. Everyone knows Maggie’s aunt came by her money the old-fashioned way: She married it. Everyone also knows her husband died young of an aneurism. But to put it so grotesquely…

“You might wanna see your way ’round to laying off that shit.” I hitch my chin toward his flask.

“Whatever.” He indulges in another long pull of whiskey to provoke me. Then he points across the way and whispers, “Look. There it goes.”

The sun is a molten ball of fiery orange and rose gold melting into the horizon. The tips of the river’s currents flash liquid silver in the dying light. And the thin layers of clouds overhead are painted in the rich hues of pink and purple, scarlet and canary yellow.

My breath catches. Maggie sighs wistfully. And Cash stretches out on his stomach, resting his chin atop his stacked fists as life on The Fly comes to a standstill. Frisbees are dropped. Folks out for exercise stop in their tracks. Even the bugs and the birds seem to have been struck mute by the beauty of the sun putting on a display like no other.

My poet’s heart tries to find a way to describe the scene and fails. Partly because there aren’t enough adjectives in the English language. Partly because, just when I think I might be able to come up with a bit of prose that could capture what I’m seeing, the scene changes. The colors deepen. The lengthening shadows add a whole new dimension to the tableau, and I’m back to where I started, at a loss for words.

The minutes stretch out as the glowing orange orb dips low. Lower still. Finally, only a crescent of golden light appears above the trees. There it seems to stop. Suspended in the sky. Impervious to the seconds ticking by, until… in a blink, it’s gone.

The long lavender shadows of dusk creep across the ground in its absence. The first star of the night winks to life on the eastern horizon. And the crickets, who have been waiting patiently all day, begin their twilight refrain.

“Beautiful,” Maggie says breathlessly.

About the Author: Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Julie grew up in a house full of women – she has three older sisters. As you can imagine, there was no lack of drama… or romance. Her mother enrolled her in a book club as soon as she began to read and it was the small spark that ignited her voracious appetite for the written word.

Because of Julie’s early immersion in literature, she found writing came quite naturally. In high school, she won multiple writing contests and was the proud senior editor of The Tiger’s Tale – her school newspaper.

During her college years, however, she longed for a challenge. “Reading and writing felt like second nature to me, so I looked for a way to flex my mental muscles,” she recalls. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree, Julie began teaching advanced high school mathematics.

“I loved working with the students and facing the challenges of the classroom, but I longed for the occasional snow day when I could race to the local book store, buy two or three new novels, and curl up in front of the fire to read.”

It wasn’t until a fortuitous move to Chicago that Julie once more returned to her first passion.

Now Julie loves to travel the world looking for views to compete with her deadlines. When she’s not writing, she enjoys camping, hiking, cycling, cooking, petting every dog that walks by her, and… reading, of course!

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Buy Volume One at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, or Kobo.
Buy Volume Two at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, or Kobo
Buy Volume Three at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, or Kobo.

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Cover Reveal: In Moonlight and Memories Trilogy by Julie Ann Walker

May 2, 2019 By Leave a Comment


In Moonlight and Memories trilogy
By Julie Ann Walker
Release Date: July 1, 2019

From NYT and USA Today bestselling author Julie Ann Walker comes an epic tale of sacrifice, friendship, and the awe-inspiring power of love.

Maggie: Ten years ago, Cash Armstrong stole my heart. Then he promptly joined the army—dragging my best friend with him—and left me crying on the front porch in a red sequined prom dress. Now he’s back. They’re both back. Cash, the one who still has my heart. And Luc, the one who saved my life.

Cash: How do you know if you’re at the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out since a traumatic brain injury made me “unfit to serve.” I’m back in New Orleans, and picking up the shattered pieces of my past means I must confront where my life’s journey began… and where it all might end.

Luc: Long ago, Maggie May was mine. Not mine in the way you might think. She was mine because she was my only friend. Then Cash came along and we became brothers by something stronger than blood. We became brothers by choice. When tragedy struck, I was forced to make a decision that changed all our lives. I thought, after ten years, it was safe to come back home. I was wrong…

The “In Moonlight and Memories” trilogy debuts July 1st!

And always remember, “The greatest of loves can begin in the simplest of ways…”

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About the Author: Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Julie grew up in a house full of women – she has three older sisters. As you can imagine, there was no lack of drama… or romance. Her mother enrolled her in a book club as soon as she began to read and it was the small spark that ignited her voracious appetite for the written word.

Because of Julie’s early immersion in literature, she found writing came quite naturally. In high school, she won multiple writing contests and was the proud senior editor of The Tiger’s Tale – her school newspaper.

During her college years, however, she longed for a challenge. “Reading and writing felt like second nature to me, so I looked for a way to flex my mental muscles,” she recalls. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree, Julie began teaching advanced high school mathematics.

“I loved working with the students and facing the challenges of the classroom, but I longed for the occasional snow day when I could race to the local book store, buy two or three new novels, and curl up in front of the fire to read.”

It wasn’t until a fortuitous move to Chicago that Julie once more returned to her first passion.

Now Julie loves to travel the world looking for views to compete with her deadlines. When she’s not writing, she enjoys camping, hiking, cycling, cooking, petting every dog that walks by her, and… reading, of course!

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Filed Under: Guest Blogs, Romance Tagged With: ,

Built to Last by Julie Ann Walker – Spotlight and Giveaway

June 27, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Julie Ann Walker, who is celebrating yesterday’s release of Built to Last, the twelfth book in the Black Knights Inc. series. Enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the post for a chance to win at the BKI series giveaway.

In the epic conclusion to the BKI series, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julie Ann Walker delivers her biggest bombshell yet!

Welcome to Black Knights Inc.
What appears to be a tricked-out motorcycle shop on the North Side of Chicago is actually headquarters for the world’s most elite covert operatives. Deadly, dangerous, and determined, they’ll steal your breath and your heart.

After a mission-gone-sideways forces Jamin “Angel” Agassi to change his identity, he’s determined to bring down the world’s worst crime syndicate kingpin once and for all. That’s going to be the easy part. Keeping Interpol agent Sonya Butler from discovering who he really is—and blazing another trail into his heart—is the challenge.

Enjoy an Excerpt

What was he doing? What the hell was he doing?

Oh, right. With everything he had, he was kissing the woman he’d fallen in love with a decade earlier and, God help him, loved still. His mind and body had traveled down I-Want-Your-Sex Road so fast that he’d missed his exit to This-Is-a-Really-Bad-Idea Town.

A really bad idea, he warned himself and followed that up with It isn’t fair to her.

Of course, when she slipped her tongue between his teeth, tentatively exploring, it took everything he had not to fall to his knees. Her mouth tasted of love and loss, of a wonderful and terrible past and a murky, tormented future.

It’s not fair, he silently reminded himself again. She doesn’t know who I am.

And yet she wanted him.

It was there in her eyes when she looked at him. A familiar longing. A confused, punch-drunk hunger that defied logic and reason because it was instinctual, a product of their lizard brains recognizing in each other the perfect physical mate. All the plastic surgery in the world couldn’t mask that.

“Mmm,” he hummed when she sucked on his tongue. Just a little. Just a nibble. He angled her head so he could align their mouths more closely.

In all the years that had passed, he had tried to convince himself their connection, their passion, had been a product of their youthful hearts. Two undisciplined lovers hungry to experience the thrill of the fall. But now? Oh, now, with her in his arms, with her mouth eager and greedy on his, he realized it had been so much more.

He didn’t believe in fated love or one-and-only’s, but neither could he discount the truth staring him in the face. Or, rather, the truth gripping his shoulders and trying to inhale him.

No woman had ever come close to touching his heart the way Sonya had. And certainly no woman had ever brought him the kind of pleasure she did.

And believe me, he thought as he nipped her plump bottom lip, knowing it would make her gasp, I let plenty of them try.

Since he’d left her, he hadn’t exactly lived the life of a monk. Looking back, he realized he’d been searching for Sonya inside other women, looking for that same connection, that same spark. But no matter how hard he’d tried, no matter how many birds he’d bounced atop countless beds, he’d always come up empty-handed.

Now, he realized that was because Sonya was it. The one. The standard by which he’d judged women and beauty and bravery and grace. He’d compared every smile to her smile, every laugh to her laugh. To him, she was everything a woman should be, her name branded upon his heart.

Fool that he was, he took great delight in knowing she felt the same, knowing she’d only ever loved one man. Him.
Or, at least she loved me as I was back then, he thought, stepping in to her until she was flush along his front, loving the feminine heat rolling off her body and the way she didn’t hesitate to rub herself against him.

That was the problem, wasn’t it? Not that she rubbed herself against him; that was heaven on earth. But that she loved him as he was back then. Because—and this was God’s honest truth—that man was dead in all the ways that counted. When Mark had become Majid who had, in turn, become Angel, he’d given up his home, his name, his face…and the woman he loved.

He’d done it in the name of Israel and freedom and the lives of innocent people everywhere including hers. But he’d done it nonetheless. He’d left her.

Left her to miss him. Left her to mourn him. Left her to fend for herself in a treacherous and merciless world. And look what had happened. She’d fallen into the grasp of a man like Grafton.

How can she ever forgive me?

Anguish grabbed hold of his heart and shoved it into his throat at the same time she grabbed the back of his head and went up on tiptoe to press herself more firmly against him.

When guilt had threatened to swamp him over the years, he had always been able to justify things to himself and chase the insidious emotion away. Now, knowing what had become of her, knowing if he had stayed, she wouldn’t be in this awful position, remorse wormed its way inside his gut and set up shop.

He’d wronged her for the right reasons. He’d made a decision that broke their hearts and quite possibly saved their lives. He’d wrecked their little world to make the larger one safer for everyone.

Yet…was it possible there might have been another way? Could he have answered the call of his country and his ramsad and held on to the woman he loved? Ten years ago, he would have insisted that how things had happened was the only way any of it could have happened. Today? Well, today a seed of doubt had been planted.

It was all so complicated. So confusing.

There were only two things he knew for sure. First, he was determined to figure out why she allowed herself to work for Grafton, to discover precisely what the bastard had on her to keep her under his thumb if it wasn’t her love and loyalty to the jewel thief. Second, along with bringing Grafton/Spider down, he was determined to save Sonya. She didn’t deserve this fate she’d found for herself. He believed that with everything inside him.

His thoughts dissolved then because her starved and impatient kisses turned abandoned. She’d lost herself to passion, hungrily devouring his lips and tongue and running her hands over his shoulders, up into his short hair. His mind drifted back to a time when his thick, dark locks had been long enough for her to curl her fingers around. His cock responded to her wicked seduction by straining against the fly of his jeans, seeking the heat and the soft give of her belly.

She moaned with pleasure.

He moaned for more of her.

About the Author: Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Julie grew up in a house full of women – she has three older sisters. As you can imagine, there was no lack of drama… or romance. Her mother enrolled her in a book club as soon as she began to read and it was the small spark that ignited her voracious appetite for the written word. Because of Julie’s early immersion in literature, she found writing came quite naturally. In high school, she won multiple writing contests and was the proud senior editor of The Tiger’s Tale – her school newspaper. During her college years, however, she longed for a challenge. “Reading and writing felt like second nature to me, so I looked for a way to flex my mental muscles,” she recalls. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree, Julie began teaching advanced high school mathematics. “I loved working with the students and facing the challenges of the classroom, but I longed for the occasional snow day when I could race to the local book store, buy two or three new novels, and curl up in front of the fire to read.” It wasn’t until a fortuitous move to Chicago that Julie once more returned to her first passion. “Thankfully, my husband – my own personal hero – encouraged my decision to write full time.” Now Julie lives on beautiful Lake Shore Drive with a view that sometimes competes with her deadlines. When she’s not writing, she enjoys camping, hiking, cycling, cooking, travel, and…reading, of course!

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Buy the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, or Kobo.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Hot Pursuit by Julie Ann Walker – Spotlight and Giveaway

October 5, 2017 By Leave a Comment

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Julie Ann Walker who is visiting with us to celebrate the recent release of Hot Pursuit, the 11th book in her Black Knights Inc series. Enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the post for a chance to win a special Julie Ann Walker prize pack.

Welcome to Black Knights Inc.
What appears to be a tricked-out motorcycle shop on the South Side of Chicago is actually headquarters for the world’s most elite covert operatives. Deadly, dangerous, and determined, they’ll steal your breath and your heart.

Fighting for his life is pretty much standard operating procedure for Christian Watson, former SAS Officer. Doing it with bossy, beautiful BKI office manager Emily Scott in tow is another matter entirely.

Enjoy an Excerpt

What was he doing?

What the bloody hell was he doing?

Emily didn’t realize it, but all her acts of caring, her selfless moments of kindness—from waking him from his nightmare to pulling him into the cab of the pickup truck—had torn open his chest, ripped out his heart, and served it up on a platter.
Then, when she had stepped in front of him, ready to take a bullet that was bloody well meant for him, he had stopped pretending that what he felt for her was lust mixed with a heavy dose of vexation. Stopped pretending that he wasn’t completely arse over teakettle about everything she did, everything she said. Each smile. Each laugh. Each witty quip.
In that moment, he had known. Heart. On. A. Platter.

All she had to do was take it.

Unfortunately, he was the one taking.

Taking a kiss she hadn’t granted. Taking a taste she didn’t return. Taking advantage of a beastly situation.

Had he lost his mind? Had he forgotten the unwritten rule? The one that was bold, underlined, and all in caps?

Not to mention, he’d lost control of himself, of the moment. He blamed it on the memory of Emily in that bastard’s grip. The sight of her there—a pistol to her head, her eyes wide with fear, but her jaw gritted tight because she refused to give in to it—was forever tattooed onto the backs of his eyelids. He knew he’d see it when he closed his eyes at night.

It took effort, but he ripped his mouth away from Emily’s and dropped his hands. Curling his fingers into fists, he locked his jaw until his molars begged for mercy.

“Whaaa?” She blinked up at him through the rain in confusion.

“Sorry.” He ground out. The word was guttural. Hard. “I shouldn’t have…” He shook his head, water flying from the ends of his hair. “Just…sorry, okay?”

Her mouth opened in a bewildered little O. That mouth that tasted like mint toothpaste with a lingering hint of buttered toast. His favorite flavor used to be Welsh cakes, but now it was Emily. Emily and her mint toothpaste with lingering hints of buttered toast.

“That won’t happen again,” he assured her before grabbing her hand and towing her toward the others.

He had thought for sure the man in the black pants and the white shirt was dead. Ben’s shot looked as if it had drilled the bloke directly in the heart. Which meant Christian felt like a total prat for stopping to ask Emily why she had stepped in front of him—for stopping to kiss her—when they arrived in time to hear the decidedly alive man whisper his name. “Philippe Dubois.”

“You’re Boss’s friend,” Ace said, applying pressure to Philippe’s wound. “You’re the former Armée de L’Air commandant.”

“Oui. C’est moi,” Philippe managed, water dripping from his chin and earlobes. He wasn’t wheezing. That was good. Meant the bullet hadn’t collapsed his lung.

“Don’t try to talk, Philippe,” Ace told him. “Rusty, call airport security.”

Christian was already pulling his mobile from his soaking hip pocket. The rain had let up. No longer a deluge, it was now more of a steady drip. “We don’t need security. We need an ambulance. This man needs to go to hospital.”

He dialed 999 without hesitation and waited for his call to connect. Dropping his free hand back to his side, he was startled when Emily grabbed it, threading her fingers through his. They felt dainty, delicate. And freezing wet. He desperately wanted to kiss them warmer, kiss them dry.

Glancing at her, he blinked the water from his lashes but couldn’t stop the questions in his eyes. So you forgive me? For taking without asking? For kissing you when you’ve given me no indication you were interested?

Before she could answer, an operator’s voice sounded in his ear, all efficient and bored. After explaining the nature of Philippe’s wound and what had happened in the vaguest of terms, he gave the operator their location. When she asked for his name, he growled, “That’s not what’s bloody important. What’s bloody important is a man’s been shot and needs help. Hurry!” He abruptly hung up. “Help is on the way,” he announced.

Philippe’s white shirt was soaked with blood despite the pressure Ace applied.

“Damnit,” Christian growled, looking around for something to stanch the bleeding. Nothing else for it, he decided, dropping Emily’s hand—he really, truly hated doing that—and shrugging out of his coat. Next came his sweater. He tossed both pieces of clothing to her.

His white cotton undershirt was wet and sticking to his skin, but it would have to do.

About the Author: Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Julie grew up in a house full of women – she has three older sisters. As you can imagine, there was no lack of drama… or romance. Her mother enrolled her in a book club as soon as she began to read and it was the small spark that ignited her voracious appetite for the written word. Because of Julie’s early immersion in literature, she found writing came quite naturally. In high school, she won multiple writing contests and was the proud senior editor of The Tiger’s Tale – her school newspaper. During her college years, however, she longed for a challenge. “Reading and writing felt like second nature to me, so I looked for a way to flex my mental muscles,” she recalls. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree, Julie began teaching advanced high school mathematics. “I loved working with the students and facing the challenges of the classroom, but I longed for the occasional snow day when I could race to the local book store, buy two or three new novels, and curl up in front of the fire to read.” It wasn’t until a fortuitous move to Chicago that Julie once more returned to her first passion. “Thankfully, my husband – my own personal hero – encouraged my decision to write full time.” Now Julie lives on beautiful Lake Shore Drive with a view that sometimes competes with her deadlines. When she’s not writing, she enjoys camping, hiking, cycling, cooking, travel, and…reading, of course!

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