Could he be the one to save her?

Check out my newest release, PROTECTING AMY, part of Susan Stoker’s Special Forces. Leave a comment for a chance to win either Protecting Maddie or Protecting Cassie.

Protecting Amy

She thought her past was firmly behind her…

Amy Ressler was a vivacious, outgoing person, looking forward to her first job after graduating college. Until the night her stepbrother slaughtered her entire family, and thought she was dead, too. For ten years she’d been living under an assumed name in a house in Tampa with security guards and a security system. Her agoraphobia keeps her a prisoner in the house where she designs sought after video games.

Quinn Molloy couldn’t seem to find a place for himself when he left the SEALS…

He had been part of the teams for eighteen years and suddenly an injury left him with no place to go, except to visit his friends Melody and Tex Keenan. Where they introduce him online to KitCat, Amy in her online disguise, a terrified woman who needs a bodyguard.

The killer is loose…

When Matthew Baker escapes from jail the hunt is on, led by the US Marshals. But with Amy helpless in her self-imposed prison, Quinn accepts the job as her personal bodyguard, and they discover that what starts online can explode In the bedroom. As long as he can keep her alive.

*****

Excerpt…

Amy Ressler woke with a start, sweating and shaking, throat parched and dry and tight with fear. She sat up in bed, clicked on the nightstand light. Her bedroom looked the same as it had when she’d gone to sleep. Nothing disturbed. Nothing different.

Then the images slammed into her, and she realized it was the dream again, the nightmare. As vividly as if they were all here in her room, she saw the bodies on the family room floor, including hers. Felt the burning pain of the stab wounds. Heard the insane sound of Matthew’s voice. Would it never go away?

Realizing she was shaking, she wrapped her arms around herself. Blinked to clear the scene from her brain.

God. Ten years, and the details were just as vivid in her mind, the fear still as intense and suffocating. At last, when her breathing had evened out, she tossed back the covers and climbed unsteadily out of bed. In the bathroom, she filled a glass of water and looked at herself in the mirror while she drank it. The face that looked back at her was pale and drawn, with dark circles under her eyes. She hadn’t looked this bad since, well, since it happened.

It.

What a small, innocuous word to describe the worst moment of her life. One minute she was happy and enjoying life, excited about her college graduation and her interview for a dream job. The next she was living a nightmare and changing every aspect of her life just to be able to stay alive. Even after all these years the nightmares still came with regularity and still frightened her to death. Ten years!

Was this what the rest of her life would be like? Would it never stop?

Get it here: https://amzn.to/2KZwCZn

*****

Be sure to drop in at Desiree’s Darlings September 10 for the all day release party.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DesireesDarlings/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

About the Author

USA Today best-selling and award-winning author Desiree Holt writes everything from romantic suspense and paranormal to erotic, a genre in which she is the oldest living author. She has been referred to by USA Today as the Nora Roberts of erotic romance, and is a winner of the EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice nominee. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The (London) Daily Mail, The New Delhi Times and numerous other national and international publications.

Find Desiree here:
www.facebook.com/desireeholtauthor
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Twitter @desireeholt
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Signup for her newsletter and receive a free book:
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UPDATE: The winner is…Jennifer Beyer!
*~*~*

Let’s Play!

First, your brain needs a little warm-up. It probably won’t be a stretch for you to figure out what I consider my “brain juice”, but work for it anyway!

Contest

My daughter says I’ve ruined some very common words for her. She’s been my beta reader for many of my short story collections, and I’ve twisted her arm to read my stories a time or two. So, now, she has a list of trigger words that make her throw up a little in her mouth. Her list includes: moist (#1 most hated word), juicy, folds, slit, kernel, pea, wet, and vagina.

So, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon card,
tell me what words make you shudder!

A Reminder

I have two new releases! If you’re read them, I’d love for you post a review. Readers trust other readers’ recommendations! And thank you!

Click on the covers to learn more about these stories!

Finally, a new release! It’s been a while, right? Not something readers who’ve followed me  for a while expect. I used to spit out stories at a crazy pace. But I think I can be given a bit of break given all the trauma-drama my family have gone through in recent months with the injury, long recovery, and then death of my father. Losing him, especially when I was so involved in his care, was devastating, but now, I’m ready to get “out there” again.

Last month, my daughter and I made a two-day jaunt to New Orleans to “refill” my writerly well. I think it worked. You can judge the result for yourself. I’ve been to New Orleans multiple times, but this time, I directly applied that experience to the pages I wrote—including the description of where we stayed while we were inside the city.

Enjoy the trip to New Orleans. Enjoy the very sexy romance between my Cajun SEAL, Thibaut, and his childhood sweetheart, Amelie. It’s a hot story, so be sure to have a glass of ice water handy while you read. And when you do read it, let me know whether you’d like more stories set in the Big Easy. 🙂

Hot SEAL, New Orleans Nights

The last thing this SEAL wants is to open his heart to her again, but Amelie needs the “hands on” kind of protection only he can provide…

Navy SEAL, Thibaut “T-Bone” Cyr, has a lot on his mind. The time is approaching when he’ll either have to re-up with the Navy or leave. He’s come home to New Orleans to spend time in his old stomping grounds while he mulls over his decision. New Orleans is where his roots are, where his family lives, but he wants to stay on the downlow while he considers his future. He’s also hoping the past he left behind doesn’t still haunt him. Fourteen years ago, he fled the city when the woman he loved dumped him.

Amelie Rivette is back in New Orleans, ready to start again. She’s helping her blind aunt run a voodoo shop in the French Quarter, but her aunt’s troubles are getting complicated. After a string of bad luck, which includes a robbery and threatening calls, Amelie finds herself trapped inside the shop when a fire is set, and she’s attacked by an assailant.

Coming to the rescue of his ex-girlfriend, Thibaut finds himself torn. The last thing he wants is to relive the pain of their breakup, but Amelie needs the kind of protection he can provide. Soon, neither of them can resist their attraction, but while they reconnect physically, he holds back his heart, not trusting that what he feels is real and not some remnant of their shared past. Complicating matters is that their families are conspiring to give him a reason to stay in New Orleans.

When Amelie is kidnapped, Thibaut realizes he’s still in love with her. Hoping he’s not too late, he sets out to save her.

Buy links: Amazon | Amazon Print | B&N | Apple | Kobo

Excerpt

He continued toward the sign that read MADAME JOSETTE’S HOUSE OF VOODOO. He stood with his hand on the doorknob, looking through the crowded shop window, past the voodoo dolls, candles, beaded necklaces, and Mardi Gras masks, through to the wooden counter painted in a glossy Chinese red with its old-fashioned apothecary shelving behind it, filled with organic mysteries. Josette wasn’t seated in her tall chair behind the counter. No one appeared to be inside the shop. Didn’t she know when she gave tarot readings in the back that someone needed to keep watch over the cash register?

But then he remembered the bell above the door, which she didn’t really need because of her uncanny knack for sensing her surroundings. The woman couldn’t see her old deck of cards but knew instinctively which she placed on her table, something that had fascinated him as a child.

He turned the knob, listened to the light tinkling of the bell, and stepped inside, inhaling the scent of whatever incense Josette had set to burn that morning.
Shuffling sounded from the stockroom beyond a beaded curtain. “Be right with you,” came a musical voice. Not Josette’s.

He swallowed hard and held his breath as a slim hand parted the curtain, and Amelie Rivette stepped out. His reaction told him that he’d been lying to himself. That she was the reason he was here. Fourteen years hadn’t blunted her effect, not according to the familiar tightening of his chest and his frozen thoughts.

The years had been kind to Amelie. Her curly hair came to her jaw rather than cascading down her back but was still a glossy, dark brown. Fine lines framed her hazel-green eyes, and her cheekbones were a little more defined, but her skin was smooth, and still that lovely dark cream that denoted her mixed heritage.

His glance touched on her mouth for only a moment, but that millisecond was just long enough to cause his blood to heat. Her lips were still full and soft-looking, and partly opened as though she was just as shocked to see him.

“Amelie,” he said, the word sandpaper-coarse because he had to force it past his tightened throat.

“Thibaut,” she said, and then her lips twitched, and she gave him a polite smile.

His back stiffened at that smile. Like he was a stranger, or worse, someone she’d hoped never to see again. A bitter taste entered his mouth because they’d parted, promising to remain “friends.”

“You’re back…” she said, a tiny frown forming between her brows.

“No,” he answered automatically, because damn if he didn’t want to disagree with even the simplest comment she might make. “I’m only here for a little while.”

“Visiting, then…” Her shoulders relaxed.

“You back?” He arched a brow then parroted, “Visiting?”

Her lips closed around a tight smile. “Actually, I moved back to help my aunt. If you stopped in to see her, you just missed her. She’s gone home already.”

He nodded. “Tell her I stopped by.”

“I will. I’ll let her know you’ll see her…another time,” she said, sounding a little breathless.

That was his cue to leave, but he hesitated to turn away. He wanted to keep looking at her. Committing everything to memory. Wiping clean the image he’d carried in his head for years of the way she’d looked before she’d turned to descend the steps of his family’s home and exited the wrought iron gate with the sun gleaming on her long hair, her cheeks pale and her eyes sparkling with tears—and her lips swelling slightly from the hard kiss he’d given her when she’d bid him goodbye.

Firming his mouth, he gave her a nod. “Good to see you, Amelie.”

Amelie stood frozen until he walked out the door. Good Lord, the man sucked the oxygen out of the room. His body seemed taller, larger than she’d remembered, and ripped. Gone was the soft handsome babyface he’d had throughout school that had made all the girls giggle and swoon. Now, his cheeks and chin were hard-edged. Even his dark stare cut like a laser. Like a caged tiger, his movements were fluid but reflected his physical power. She shivered thinking about the way he’d looked at her, his gaze flicking over her face and body, leaving a hot trail of want she fought to quell. There was no use thinking about him in any sexy way. She was the last woman on earth he’d ever want again, something he’d made abundantly clear when she’d broken up with him on the eve of leaving for Illinois.

“Illinois? What the hell, Amelie?” he’d said on that long-ago afternoon, his grip on her upper arms tightening. “I’m going to Tulane. You said you were, too.”

Yes, they’d both received offers of scholarships to Tulane. Him for football, her for math. But she hadn’t told him about the second offer. The one her father had pressured her to accept.

“You lied to me? All summer, you lied…to me?” he’d said, his dark brows furrowing in a fierce frown.

“I didn’t lie,” she’d whispered.

He gave her a little shake. “You let me talk about getting us a place near school…” His mouth curled into a snarl. “I told you I loved you. Said we’d get married.”

She panted, every word making her gasp with pain for what would never be. By his darkening expression, he’d never forgive her, never let her explain.

“I’m s-sorr—”

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry,” he spat.

She swallowed, tears beginning to fill her eyes. She’d known she was going to hurt him, but she’d left this reckoning too long. “I h-have to go.”

Thibaut had stared down at her, his nostrils flaring, his cheeks red with anger. Then he’d bent toward her and slammed his mouth down on hers. The kiss had been hard, crushing her lips against her teeth—a punishment, when she’d been accustomed to only soft, sweet kisses from the boy she’d loved. When he’d drawn back his head, he’d released her arms, and she’d stumbled back and wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. She’d stared for a long moment, memorizing his face, knowing they’d never be here, standing on his mother’s porch, ever again.

She’d left New Orleans and hadn’t looked back, but she’d never forgotten how she’d felt about him then. How she’d felt about herself for hurting him.

She’d been in New Orleans a month before she’d stopped worrying every time the bell tinkled that he’d walk through the door. Crazy thoughts like that had bombarded her ever since she’d returned. She’d seen him everywhere she went. Any burly, thick-shouldered man would instantly set her heart racing until she took a closer look. She’d told herself it was natural, because so many of her memories of this city were wrapped up with memories of him. Before she’d accepted that scholarship from Northwestern, they’d been inseparable, throughout middle and high school, dating as soon as her father had reluctantly approved.

It had taken years for her to get over Thibaut Cyr…

Can you believe the month is gone? It’s a little scary how quickly time marches by.

May wasn’t wonderfully productive for me, word-wise. I was very busy with editing projects, very busy with kids’ end of school activities, getting the pool ready for summer (priorities!), and tons of babysitting for my dd while she was busy doing what she does (she’s that mom who always has tons of kids over for sleepovers/special movie nights/trips to the zoo, etc.). So, yeah, I let myself be a bit distracted from THE WORK.

I spent the first part of the month promoting Stranded: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology. Then I edited and re-released, Gilded Cage.

So, if you haven’t picked up your copies, keep this in mind: For now, both are in Kindle Unlimited, where you can pick them up for FREE!

As for what’s happening in June…

I’m wrapping up a story that will release around the 11th, New Orleans Nights, which is part of the SEALs in Paradise series, which you can check out! The authors in the series are releasing a book every two weeks, so be sure to head over to find out what’s out already! And yes, my story’s going to be HAWT!

Wish I had it on pre-order, but as soon as it’s live, I’ll let you know! Mmmm, I just love that cover.

And before I wrap up the story, my dd and I are headed to New Orleans to soak up some atmosphere. We’re speeding down for a two-day trip. That’s all we can manage with the kids out of school. Her policeman hubby will have his hands full, and she knows the longer she’s away, the more chance there will be of some disaster happening. This week we had to deal with gray water pipes backing up. Ugh. Her hubby’s still dealing with couplings and digging up and burying pipes. My dd set a chair in the back yard next to the ditch he excavated so she could “supervise” and admire his, um, hard work. 🙂

As for the rest of June? I’m hoping to keep my head down and write. And swim. Lots of swimming. We put up tiki torches so we can extend our pool hours. Yeah, I’m a Cancer. Love that water. Which reminds me I have a birthday coming up…

I hope you’re enjoying the start of the season. Get outside! Get in the water. Take a trip—even if it’s only for a couple of days. Read somewhere recently that traveling extends your life. Don’t know about that, but it’s sure fun.

So tell me, do you have any big or small summer plans?

March was not a wonderfully productive month. Beyond the awful events of the last week, for which anyone would be excused for “non-prolific-ness”, I still didn’t manage to write many new words. I’m supposed to be a writer, first and foremost, but last month I was mainly an editor. I edited two long novels and one novella for other authors. I also began editing the short stories for the upcoming A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology: Stranded.

The big news for the month was the release of the anthology, Men in Uniform, which includes my novella, “Along Came a Spider” —a fun, sexy, action-y tale about a SEAL and the lovely ex-Army woman he rescues that I think my readers will enjoy!

But writers are supposed to write. So, I’ve loaded up my schedule for April with some ambitious goals.

1. Priority #1 has to be getting Stranded ready for release. Yes, I have to edit others’ stories, but I also have to write one of my own to include, something bounty hunter related, entitled “Quincy Down Under”. (Stranded is available for pre-order and only $0.99!)
2. Next up is Big Sky Wedding, which lives in my Montana Bounty Hunters and Uncharted SEALs worlds.
3. Then there’s the last installment of Stepbrothers Stepping Out: With His SEAL Team–Part 6.

If I can get that far this month, I’ll feel pretty accomplished, and I’ll have earned back my title of WRITER.

UPDATE: The winner is…Misty Dawn!
*~*~*

On Monday, Men in Uniform will be out there, ready for you to binge-read nine succulent, sexy tales about those men in uniform you love! This is a collection of novellas, all by Entangled authors in their super-hot One Handed Reads line!

My story, of course, features a Navy SEAL. Now, if I published it by myself, you’d be paying $2.99 for the title. But for only $2 more, you will get 8 more stories from some truly remarkable, smutty-minded ladies! You know you don’t want to miss this.

To entice you further, I’ve included the “first kiss” scene below, but if you’d like to read the fun, high-octane action scene where they first meet,  you can find it on this page:  Men in Uniform. Don’t be fooled by the opening line. It gets crazy pretty fast!

Want to win a $5 Amazon gift card? Read the excerpt and tell me how likely you are to try to get your hands on Men in Uniform!

Men in Uniform

Nine sexy stories about our favorite men in uniform, from some of the biggest names in romance…

Along Came a Spider by New York Times Bestselling Author Delilah Devlin: All Spider Longren wants is time alone to recharge after a grueling mission, but what he gets is caught in the double crossfire of passion and danger.

Coming in Hot by USA Today Bestselling Author Kate Meader: Firefighter Tyler has one problem. He’s still got his V-card. And he wants his best friend Evie to help him lose it, only she has no idea he’s wanted her for years. Time to make his move.

Precious Cargo by USA Today Bestselling Author Nicole Morgan: With a hit out on Alena’s life, U.S. Marine Brandon is faced with protecting her while completing his mission… And keeping his hands off her is the hardest task of all.

View from the Top by USA Today Bestselling Author Carmen Falcone: Retired Air Force pilot Mack always desired Jenny but couldn’t act on it because she’d been too young. Now, years later, he’s ready to show her they’d make a great couple—in and out of the bedroom.

Two for the Road by Bisou deVie: One city girl from LA. One sexy Greek paramedic from Canada. One road trip. What could go wrong?

Call Me Crazy by Rebecca Royce: Faith keeps calling Sheriff Wyatt about something odd she keeps seeing in her yard… But all he sees is one sexy woman he wants for a night of hot passion.

The Navy Seal’s Secret Baby by Kat Baxter: A hot NAVY Seal, an awkward teacher, and a weekend of hot sex. It was supposed to be temporary, but a baby changes everything…

Always Ready by Kimberly Nee: In town for a few days from his job in the Coast Guard, Steve helps Lauren live out her sexual fantasy. But it’s the staying together part that’s challenging…

Ready for Trouble by Tina Donahue: Jake loves his job as a cop and loves the steamy Florida women more—as long as they’re into casual. And that means hands off his boss’s sister…

Pre-order your copy here!

An excerpt from Along Came a Spider…

“Thank you, Spider Longren. You’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty.”

One brow arched. “I’m all in, all the time…”

Her breath caught. Knowing the moment was heading into dangerous territory, she forced a smile. “That some SEAL saying?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She drew another deep breath. “We should rest.”

He nodded but didn’t move. Neither did she.

“I want to kiss you,” he said.

Oh, I’d like that, too… But then what? Was she really ready? Was this even real?

“Just a kiss. I think I earned it.” Then he groaned. “That didn’t come out right. Babe, you don’t owe me anything.”

His voice was a little raspy, sexy as hell. Her nipples prickled and hardened. “Oh, but I do feel…indebted,” she said, letting her voice go husky. Running a finger along the side of his cheek, she teased, “A girl should always pay her debts, don’t you think?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She moved forward on her cushion and turned her body. He did the same. When he lifted his hands to cup her face, she felt as though every bone in her body melted. She licked her bottom lip then tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes.

His kiss was gentle but thorough, his mouth pressing against hers. At first, she only noted the warmth and firmness of his mouth, and then he began circling his head, dragging their lips, and heat built inside her.

When she gasped for breath, his tongue swept inside, and she couldn’t hold back a little moan. It felt so good. So freaking hot.

When he pulled back, she followed, but his hands still held her face. His chuckle was warm, and she couldn’t hold back a little laugh of her own. She’d been so eager to continue.

“Now we know,” he whispered. He dropped his hands then pushed up abruptly from the sofa. “I’ll grab a sleeping bag from the bedroom. Until we have better hardware on the door and some sort of warning system set up outside, I’ll sleep on the porch.”

She nodded, even though she felt guilty about him sleeping on the hard porch. Still, he was right. Someone needed to stay alert. With a sigh, she rose and moved toward the bedroom. They met at the doorway, and she moved backward, feeling a little awkward now that her body was cooling.

Spider started to move past her but then paused and reached out an arm. He dragged her against his chest and kissed her forehead. “I don’t expect anything, Jessie. This isn’t…payment. You understand?”

She nodded, her face rubbing against his. “It feels good.”

“Feels right,” he said, his voice rumbling. And then he moved back. “I’ll be outside.”

Get your copy! This offer won’t last long! Pick up the first story in the Uncharted SEALs series, Watch Over Me! 

Here’s what the story is all about…

When Deke Warrick accepts an unsanctioned detail to keep tabs on a congressman’s niece while she vacations in the Caribbean, he expects the only dangers he’ll face are sunburn and a rum hangover. Determined to keep his distance, his resolve is challenged by a chance encounter with the beautiful Nicky Martir—and then shattered when she’s snatched from their hotel room.

Get your FREE COPY here!