~Re-Release Blitz~ Heroes and Villains- California Dreaming 1 by Stacey Johnston

Title: Heroes and Villains – California Dreaming 1

Author: Stacey Johnston

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Re Release Date: October 31st, 2016

http://bit.ly/2dTrCo8

Amazon US: http://bit.ly/2etOdtF

Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2dTsQjy

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2eaXhjU

Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2dY4MuL

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2etOhcD

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2d8Fw7K

Two lives entwined in secrets…

Secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they even begin…

Sophie Valentine was a girl living a privileged life, in the tranquility of Solana Beach until she was forced to move to Brooklyn under questionable conditions.

In a quiet Brooklyn neighborhood, Benjamin Sinclair was a troubled boy, leading a secret life.

When he met Sophie on the steps of his apartment building the day she moved in, he never envisioned how chaotic and turbulent his life would become.

A battle between the forces of good and evil awaits… one that could leave a devastating effect or be the start of new beginnings.

How will it end?

What to tell you about myself??

When I sat down to set about the challenge of what I could say, I found that I didn’t really consider myself to be very interesting at all.

I’ve lived in Western Australia my whole life, only ever leaving the country once. Right now though I reside in a southern suburb close to the beach.

Above everything else I’m a wife and a mother. I’ve been married to a man I believe to be my soul mate for the past nine years. When he came into my life I already had two gorgeous kids, a boy and girl, who he took on as his own without any consideration as to how it would affect his life. During our time together, he has also blessed me with two more gorgeous little girls. My real life also has me working full time as an Office Manager for an Audio Visual Company.  

I grew up in a home with three aunties, two uncles, my younger brother, my father, and my grandparents!! Wow that was more of mouthful than I expected! As you can imagine life in a large family like that was never boring J

As a child I loved creating stories in my head, it was my escape, a place I could go and hide from the world. As I became older, my stories evolved and every time life challenged me, I slipped back into my imaginary world and hid. This didn’t change as I entered adulthood.

I have always been the kind of person who never made things easy for herself, and I spent many years drifting from family member to family member looking for direction. It wasn’t until I was twenty-one when I met a man who would become, what I thought - my future.  Over the next twelve years he was my life, well him, and the two children he blessed me with.

We lost that loving husband, and father to a heart attack when our children were very young, and life as you can imagine became a little rough for a while.

Over the years my stories have given me the sanity to get through many tragic situations.

They’ve given me a world to escape into, one where I can be anything I want.

These stories I’ve created over the years, have always been a coping mechanism that worked for me, and I’ve always wanted to share them.

With the support of my family I have ventured out there, and finally put them down on paper. I hope you love them as much as I do.

Website:  www.staceyjohnstonauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/staceyjohnstonauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/author_stacey

Instagram: @staceyjohnstonauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14981304.Stacey_Johnston

Email: staceyjohnston43@gmail.com

Join my closed readers group – California Dreaming – Behind the ………  on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/820464971391008/

This is a group I created where I can interact with my members, discussing my stories, and the characters within. I also like to give my members the opportunity to get their hands on advanced copies of my books, in exchange for their honest reviews.

There may or may not be a little raunchy fun as well ….

Thank you – Dido

Satellite – Nickleback

Something in your mouth – Nickleback

Smile – Uncle Kracker

Say Say Say – Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney

S.E.X – Nickleback

Trying Not to Love You – Nickleback

Amazing – Alex Lloyd

Trouble – Pink

~Blog Tour~ Do Not Disturb by Mary Billiter's

The perfect job, a dream guy, and one chance to screw it up...

 Title: Do Not Disturb

Author: Mary Billiter

Series: Resort Romances #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing

Release Date: October 15th, 2106

 ON SALE FOR HALF PRICE 

books2read.com/donotdisturb

When a luxury beachfront hotel in the OC conducts a mass hire, Katie Flanagan’s ninth in line. 

Is it her dream job? Possibly. 

Will it help her escape living with her parents for the rest of her life? Hopefully. 

Add in two hot new hires: one who is her type in all the wrong ways and one who has her questioning what she really wants and needs. Either way, she has a choice to make. 

When Katie discovers a secret document aimed at downsizing the staff, she finds her voice and pens a press release that places the hotel, and her, at the center of national coverage. When the corporate line is drawn in the sand, the question becomes – will she cross it? 

Havoc, heat, and hotel madness… welcome to the back hallways at the Waterfront Point Resort.

Carmen chuckled and then signaled for the server. “Listen, Katie, the night is still young.” She tilted her head toward the bar where Keebler Boy and Crabby Sandy stood side by side. “What about Chris?”

“The Keebler Elf? There’s not enough beer or bourbon to ever make that right.”

Carmen slapped the table with her hand. The echo caught their attention. Chris and Sandy turned toward us, but so did another Huntington Hopeful, Bogart. I hadn’t even noticed he’d left our table.

“Oh, Katie, you’re hilarious.”

“I’m glad the truth is so amusing because that little man up there….” I shuddered. “No thank you.”

“I concur.” Carmen’s accent was thick with certain words. “But I wasn’t talking about that Chris.”

“Oh, Bogart?” I shrugged. “He’s… I….”

A blonde with razor-cut hair and a tan that she wore as well as her faded 501s, black tank, and Converse set a fresh IPA in front of each of us. “This is from the gentleman at the bar.”

She didn’t turn, but I knew it had to be Bogart.

Carmen put two fingers in her mouth and gave a sharp whistle. It felt like the entire bar looked over at us. “Gracias!” She raised her pint toward Bogart.

“De nada!” He raised a pint in return.

I smiled.

The server pulled out her electronic keypad. “So it looks like you ladies are set for drinks. How about some appetizers or dessert?”

“Actually, speaking of dessert,” Carmen said. “My friend here is having a difficult time choosing between two guys.”

The blonde leaned in. “Which two men are we choosing between?”

“We’re not having this discussion,” I said.

“The guy playing pool,” Carmen said without taking her eyes off the server, who gave a nod in TJ’s direction, clearly knowing who we were referring to. “And the guy at the bar. Not the albino. The one with the great ass who just bought us this round.”

The server didn’t even turn around, but I did look over her toward Bogart. The heel of his boot was propped on the foot rail that wrapped around the bar, and his hands gripped the edge of the bar’s granite countertop. His jeans did cup his ass, but it wasn’t just his ass I noticed. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and he held on to the bar like he was about to do a push-up. His shirt stretched across his back, revealing muscle tone and definition. He had a perfect V-shaped torso, with a narrow waist that broadened to wide, powerful, ready-to-be-clawed-into shoulders.

 HALF-PRICE SALE 

Amazon: US | UK | AU | CA

Nook | iBooks | ARe

Website I Facebook I Goodreads I Twitter

Mary Billiter is a weekly newspaper columnist and fiction author. She also has novels published under the pen name, “Pumpkin Spice.”

Mary resides in the Cowboy State with her unabashedly bald husband, their combined children, and runaway dog. She does her best writing (in her head) on her daily runs in wild, romantic, beautiful Wyoming.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rafflecopter Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ea80a6ed193/

http://www.hottreepublishing.com/going-south

~Sale Blitz~ The Friessens: A New Beginning by Lorhainne Eckhart

The Friessens: A New Beginning

by Lorhainne Eckhart

Series: The Friessens: A New Beginning, #1 - #4

Genre: Romance

Release Date: December 16, 2014

—“Author Lorhainne Eckhart is adept at showing deeply felt emotions through actions, instead of just telling us." ~ Reviewed by Natasha Jackson, Readers Favorite

—“A wonderful love story not only about an unconditional love between a man and woman, but an unconditional heart -filled love for a special child.” ~ S. George

—"I absolutely love this author. I have read the complete outsider series and search for the continuing saga because I am addicted." ~ Katzbut

The Friessens: A New Beginning includes, The Deadline, The Price to Love, A Different Kind of Love and A Vow of Love, a big family romance series that has become a worldwide bestseller.

THE DEADLINE:
Andy Friessen has packed up everything and moved his family two states away, to Montana, to protect his wife, Laura, his newborn babies, and his stepson, Gabriel, from the threats of his mother. What Andy doesn't know is that they'll soon face a new threat, one he never saw coming.

THE PRICE TO LOVE
‘A 2015 READERS’ FAVORITE AWARD WINNER’
She could give him everything except the one thing he wanted—a child.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF LOVE
Brad and Emily are return in this heartfelt story where they face an entirely new set of challenges with their preteen autistic boy when his mother, Crystal, returns. She wants a relationship with the boy she abandoned—something Brad and Emily never expected. She says she’s changed, but can the Friessens believe her?

A VOW OF LOVE
Thirteen days before Christmas, a letter arrives in the mail—a letter that was never meant for Candy Friessen. When she opens it, she discovers a lie that rocks her world, and she begins to question everything she and Neil have created together, including his love for her and their family.

How do you describe the feeling you get the first time you drive down a long, winding road to a place that is all yours? To Andy Friessen, this wasn’t just a house or a piece of land: he had staked a claim in another state, in another part of the country, uprooting his family and selling everything, all for a brand new beginning.

Andy took in the miles of vast hillside and the cleanest pastures he’d ever seen. The green grass swayed in the wind and, for the first time, he sensed the sun, the moon, the stars and the changing of the seasons more deeply than he ever had before. This was a part of the country he had never traveled, but it felt like coming home. He glanced over at his wife, Laura, asleep in the passenger seat, her head resting against the door, her breath whispering softly in and out. He always knew when she was overtired, as she snored in her soft, delicate way. This time, she stirred a bit before settling into a deep sleep, as if her body had finally run out of steam.

She was on edge and had been for some time, but that wasn’t unusual for a mother of newborns. For Andy and Laura, there was twice as much stress with their six-week-old twins, Chelsea and Jeremy, who were sound asleep in the backseat of the truck. Their five-year-old big brother, Gabriel, Laura’s son from a pregnancy at fifteen, sat beside them.

Laura was so young but had lived through more heartache, rejection and struggle than most people would in a lifetime. As a teenager, she had been tossed out onto the street by her judgmental parents, who thought she was a bad influence on her younger brothers. Laura had only mentioned it once to Andy, and only when he pushed. He wanted to know what had happened, to know everything about her family, but he saw the deep hurt like a tread mark on her soul. No matter what he did, he wondered if that was something she’d never be able to make peace with. Andy wouldn’t, not in this lifetime. In fact, George and Sue Parnell were the first people Andy had ever hated without even meeting them.

They had come so far, Laura and him. At first, the only reason he had married her was to save her son when the state took him away. Laura and Gabriel had been living in her car, and Andy had married her because he felt responsible for the entire mess. After all, it had been his mother who fired Laura from her position as a maid in the Friessen house. Andy had treated her horribly at first, but so much had changed since then. He loved her—his child bride, as everyone teased him. She had recently turned twenty-one, legal in every state, and Andy would soon be thirty-three.

Andy pressed the brakes to slow his pickup as the ruts deepened on the driveway. The horse trailer rattled, and he glanced in the side mirror and rolled down his window just as his three-year-old buckskin mare, Ladystar, nickered. Apparently, she’d had enough of this two-day trip, leaving North Lakewood behind and moving two states away to a seventy-two-acre spread Andy had purchased outside of Columbia Falls, Montana.

“Where are we?” Laura said. She didn’t open her eyes as she yawned. Her short bob was a tangled mess, but it was cute. Andy had been irritated when she cut off all her hair, saying it was easier to look after. Maybe so, but he liked her long hair. “Andy?” she said. The leather seat rustled as she sat up.

Andy had to clear his throat. “We should be close. …”

He stepped on the brakes when a sprawling one-story ranch house came into view. It had a light wood finish and a post-and-beam front deck, but something about the place didn’t look right. The railing appeared broken, with pieces of wood scattered here and there. Everything looked unkempt. Piles of debris littered the yard, including a rusted-out pickup with missing wheels parked in waist-high grass that was now weighted down by the melting snow. Maybe he had the wrong place? He eased on the gas pedal and started up the slight incline that circled the house. It was similar to the photos he had seen, but the house in the photos had been newer than this. A couple of the shutters were hanging sideways, and the fence surrounding the house was falling down, as was the corral, but it was the junk, the debris, the plastic, garbage and scattered metal parts, that pissed him off.

“What the hell is this?”

He’d bought the place unseen. The Montana realtor had sent photos of the exterior and interior, and maybe Andy should have asked when they had been taken, but he’d been in a hurry to get Laura and the kids as far away from his family as he could. He parked in front of the house and spotted the red and white realty sign leaning against the front step.

“Andy, this doesn’t look like the pictures the realtor sent,” Laura said. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

One of the babies started fussing, and Ladystar nickered from the trailer.

“Andy, are we here?” Gabriel called out from the backseat, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah, just stay there, bud,” Andy said as he opened his door. Laura was reaching over to unbuckle Jeremy from his car seat, his tiny hands flailing. “He hungry?”

Laura appeared so tired as she nodded. “I think so. Wet, too.” She patted his bottom and rested him on the seat. “Andy, can you reach the diaper bag on the floor in the back?” She had already unfastened his sleeper as Andy lifted the blue bag, shut the back door and set the bag on his seat.

“Just stay in here until I check things out,” he said.

Laura glanced up with a weary smile. “Okay.”

He shut the door and stepped around the truck, taking in the mess. Ladystar nickered again. “Okay, girl,” he murmured, unlatching the horse trailer and leading his horse out before tying her to the side and bringing out a flake of hay for her. “Better find you some water, too,” he said, pulling out his bucket. Around the side of the house, he found a barn with a missing door, another gated pasture, and a round ring. As he stepped closer, he noticed the round pen appeared intact, with no missing posts and all the rails up. It was probably a safe bet for tonight, at least for Ladystar, until he got a better look around.

He found a water tap at the back of the house and turned it on, but rusty water poured out. “Crap!” he muttered, waiting for it to run clear before he filled the bucket. When he took it back to the trailer where Ladystar was tied and eating, Laura opened the door of the truck and called out, “Andy, Gabriel has to go to the bathroom, and so do I. Can we go inside?”

Andy took in what was supposed to have been a ten-year-old sprawling rancher, with a wraparound deck where they could spend evenings and mornings looking out over their spread. Instead, it resembled the kind of house his cousin Jed would have picked up for a good price to gut and renovate—not something Andy was interested in doing.
“All right,” Andy said. He opened the back door and lifted Gabriel, who was already unbuckled and waiting. “Stay here, Gabriel. Hey, Laura, Chelsea is still sleeping.” Andy lifted his very quiet daughter from the car.

Laura slid down, carrying Jeremy, who was fussing again. She had on just a beige sweater. “Ooh, it’s cold,” she said. She reached in the truck for her tan jacket and pulled it out, holding it out to Andy so he could help her as she juggled the baby.

Laura started up the steps, and Gabriel and Andy followed. At the sound of a vehicle coming down the road, they both turned to see a newer pickup truck flying over the ruts and then pulling in just behind the horse trailer. A woman with a round face, bright smile, and dark hair tied back in a ponytail stepped out, wearing a sheepskin coat and blue jeans.

Laura shrieked behind Andy. He turned just as the screen door Laura had pulled fell over and crashed to the front deck. Chelsea, who had been sleeping, whimpered and then started howling along with her brother.

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ iBooks ~ Kobo
Google ~ AllRomance ~ Smashwords

—“My heart ached for Neil and Candy is this book.” Reviewer Amanda

—"Lorhainne Eckhart has a way at really tugging on the heartstrings and this story is no exception." Love's Reading

—"Eckhart is one of the best storytellers that I have read in a long time." Nook Reviewer

—"Wow...Wow!! A must read." Susie

—"Grabbed me from the start and held me the whole way through." Kindle Reviewer

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lorhainne Eckhart recently received the 2016 Readers’ Favorite Award for Suspense and Romance for her two titles Vanished & The Bloodline. With over fifty titles under her belt, her big family romance series are loved by fans worldwide. Books that celebrate love, family, commitment, hope, and making a relationship work. With flawed strong characters, characters you can relate to. Lorhainne writes the kind of books she wants to read.

She is an award winning author and frequently a Top 100 bestselling author in multiple genres, such as romance, western, military and mystery/suspense. She has written multiple series, including The Outsider, Walk the Right Road, The Wilde Brothers, Saved, The Friessens, and her two newest additions, Married in Montana, and her high-stakes suspense and sizzling, red-hot romance series, Kate and Walker, Deadly, Dangerous and Desired.

You can chat with Lorhainne on Facebook (www.facebook.com/AuthorLorhainneEckhart), Twitter @LEckhart, and her blog at http://www.lorhainneeckhart.com/blog/ .

FREE STARTER LIBRARY
***Limited time offer**
New York Times Bestselling Author Lorhainne Eckhart has entertained 100,000’s of readers with her big family romance series – and she is giving away her Amazon bestselling romance "The Forgotten Child" free for a limited time. Just sign up for her newsletter here: https://gem.godaddy.com/signups/260782/join
to receive your free eBook of The Forgotten Child.

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram
Google + ~ YouTube ~ WattPad

Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website ~ Blog ~ Newsletter ~ Email

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~Cover Reveal~ Low Over High (The Over Duet #1) by J.A. DeRouen

Low Over High (The Over Duet #1)

Cover Design: DCP Designs

Release Date: November 14, 2016

 

Synopsis

I fancy myself a purveyor of truth, a sifter of lies, a cutter of bullshit. It’s not a gift, but rather, all skill, honed to a razor’s edge after one too many trips down the rabbit hole. Some may dismiss my talent as misplaced and misguided cynicism, but they’d be wrong. Cliches about hope and faith in mankind are concocted unicorn farts, an effort to keep the dreamers dreaming. Experiences don’t lie—people do. While I’m not proud of the circumstances that led me to this way of thinking, I respect the journey. The road to enlightenment can be dark and foreboding, but the destination makes it all worthwhile. But funny thing about the past—it’s a defiant child refusing to stay in time out. No matter how deeply buried, it can always pop up when least expected, and sink its fucking claws into the flesh of your heart. No, not my heart—I no longer have one. I foolishly gave it away years ago, but I still feel the ripping in my chest as I fist the crumpled note left on my porch. I’ve avoided this day, ran from it, for the past eight years. And still we meet again. But to truly understand … to feel my dread and fear my future as I do, it’s important to know what happened in my past. Or who… My name is Marlo Rivers, and this is my story of corrupted love.    

Goodreads

   

   

Giveaway

One of Five ARCs of Low Over High

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0cba4250358/?

       

About the Author

J.A. DeRouen lives in South Louisiana with her husband, son (aptly named "The Professor), and her furry friend, Scout. She holds bachelor's degrees in psychology and nursing.

When she's not writing or inhaling romance novels by the stack, she works as a women's health nurse. She's been an avid reader and daydreamer since childhood, and she's never stopped turning the page to get to the next happily ever after.

 

Connect with J.A.

Website: http://www.jaderouen.com

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/2dFHwzC

Facebook Author Page: http://bit.ly/2c3Y2O0

Facebook Reader Group: http://bit.ly/2eFOJ6m

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2fc79xg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JADerouen1

Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2dFnN8b

Goodreads Author Page: http://bit.ly/2e78EZu

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2eNra9f

BookBub Author Page: http://bit.ly/2eNrncx

 

~Freebie Book Blitz~ A Collateral Attraction by Liz Durano

Title: A Collateral Attraction

Author: Liz Durano

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb:

Identical twins, Billie and Blythe Delphine, used to be close—until a misunderstanding tore them apart.

Years later, in an attempt at reconciliation, Billie joins Blythe in New York for a vacation. But their reunion is cut short when the twins are caught in a battle between two brothers, Ethan and Heath Kheiron, fighting over control of the family fortune. To make matters worse, Blythe runs off with Ethan just as Billie learns that her sister’s about to be accused of a crime she knows Blythe did not commit.

To find her, Billie will need to work with the one man Blythe blames for all of Ethan’s troubles, Heath Kheiron.

But even as Billie finds herself thrust into the world of money, not even the most extravagant shopping sprees and private island retreats can hide the years of unresolved differences between the twins, or the decades of lies that have left the Kheiron family divided. And as Billie and Heath fight the growing attraction between them, they know there’s another player in the game who wants it all, and until the twins and the brothers settle their differences, they’re all in danger.

Will Billie reach her sister in time and get them both out of harm’s way? Or will she–and her heart–be collateral damage in a dangerous game where anyone is expendable?

Though Liz studied journalism in college, she discovered that she preferred writing romantic fiction over news and ad copy. She lives in Southern California with her family where she spends her days writing, chasing after her 6-year old, and stepping over Legos.

Author Links:

Web: https://lizdurano.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lizdurano

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lizduranobooks/?fref=ts

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9858074.Liz_Durano

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2abGGZN

Liz’s Reader Group: http://facebook.com/librarycafereadergroup

Instagram: http://instagram.com/lizdurano

Buy Links: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2fbJptP

 

While Blythe is in the back room having her dress fitted to her measurements, I’m enjoying my second glass of wine when the front doors burst open, and a man strides in. He’s dressed in an immaculately tailored suit that can’t hide a broad chest and slim waist, his long strides emphasizing muscled thighs and long legs. He’s like a Greek god with dark hair and piercing steel blue-gray eyes, a strong jaw and full lips, and the way he moves reminds me of a panther, smooth and stealthy. 
The wine has probably made me act bolder than I usually am, though when his gaze sweeps across the room and our eyes meet, my confidence falters. I look down into my glass, suddenly wishing I’m invisible, not that it helps, for he’s seen me and now he’s striding purposefully towards me.
One of the employees, a young woman with a pixie hair cut that reminds me of Twiggy, meets him halfway. “May I help you, sir?”

“I’m here to speak to her,” he says, pointing his finger at me. I look up at him, startled. Me?

Do I know him? I struggle to remember if I’ve seen him before, maybe someone Blythe introduced me to sometime between my arrival and right now, but I come up empty.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we’re in the middle of a private event, and I’ll have to ask you to leave,” the young woman says, and just like that, I swear the temperature in the room turns cold as his gaze sweeps along the length of her.

“Obviously you’re new. Do you know who I am?” Before she can answer, Alicia appears next to her, smiling sweetly.

“Mister Kheiron! I didn’t expect to see you here today.”

“Alicia, how are you?”

“I’m well, thank you for asking. I sincerely apologize for this young lady’s manners. Amelie is new, you see, and isn’t yet familiar with our regular clients. In fact, Blythe recommended her, “Alicia says, before turning to face the young woman, who’s just turned white as sheet. ”

“Shouldn’t you be stocking inventory?”

As Amelie scurries to the back room, the man walks past Alicia and continues to make his way towards me. I set my wine glass on the coffee table and stand up. Based on mean he is, this must be the infamous Heath Kheiron. Then I wonder if we’ve overcharged the Gold Card by mistake. 
As he stops in front of me, I smell his cologne and my nostrils flare, the hairs at the back of my arms standing on end. Even my belly tightens. Citrusy with a hint of spice.

“Where is he?” he asks, his voice cold and deep.
I glance around, as if confirming that he is talking to me.

“Who?”

“Don’t ’who’ me,” he says through gritted teeth as he draws closer.

“Where is Ethan?”

“I don’t know,” I stammer, confused and not understanding his anger.

“We’re meeting him for dinner-“

“When you see him, tell him to call me,” he says just as the realization hits me.

He thinks I’m Blythe!
“No, wait! You’re wrong! I’m not Blythe! I’m-”

“Yeah, right,” he scoffs, grabbing my wrist, and this time his voice lowers as he addresses me.

“Tell Ethan to give back what he stole, or I’m making sure that everything will be taken away from him — his spending accounts, his access to company properties,” he pauses, lifting an eyebrow as he looks at me.

“Even you, Blythe.”
 The way he looks at me makes me wither inside. It’s cold and demoralizing, like he’s appraised me from behind his blue-gray eyes and I came up short.

“For your information, mister,” I say as I yank my wrist away from him, “I am not a thing.”
Heath eyes me, as if surprised that I actually can speak, and then he chuckles, as if I just said something funny.

“You’re not a thing, is that it? You’re not this thing for my brother to dress up and primp like some doll on display — like he’s doing now?”

He bites his lower lip, and shakes his head, as if he’s the one who’s perplexed. But clearly, by the words that follow, he’s not. “It’s time to wake up and smell the roses, dear Blythe, because as far as I’m concerned, that’s exactly what you are to me — a thing. Now where is Ethan?”

This time, I’m too shocked to say anything back, but Alicia comes to my rescue.
“I need you to leave, Mister Kheiron. This behavior is inexcusable.”

“Don’t worry. I’m done here, Alicia,” Heath says before turning his attention back to me.

“Tell Ethan he’s got till tomorrow to explain himself, or he’s going to end up with a bigger problem in his hands — and I believe you know what I’m talking about, Blythe. And tell him that once I notify the board of what’s been happening, he’ll have nothing to his name — nothing. Neither will you.”

“Mister Kheiron!” Alicia’s voice is shrill now and two men in dark suits seem to magically appear next to her.

“Good day, Alicia,” Heath says, nodding his head curtly, before turning to address me, the bow of his head mocking me.

“And you, too, Blythe. Enjoy your shopping spree.”
 I can’t even say anything back at him, not when the way he looks at me decimates me into someone who clearly is not worth anything in his eyes. I feel Alicia’s hand rest on my arm as Heath turns away and walks out of the store. 
“I’m so sorry, dear,” Alicia says.

“Are you alright?”
I nod.

“I guess when tycoons have a bad day, they really do have a bad day, don’t they?”