Release Blitz: Home on Anna Maria Island by Elley Arden

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: January 31, 2018

Pittsburgh Privateers third baseman Gavin Sullivan is home on Anna Maria Island with a lot on his mind: his mother’s recent battle with breast cancer and, now, the surprising news his oldest brother, Colby, is a twin. Gavin has a sister he’s never met, and worse, he’s sworn to secrecy while his parents try to find her. Is it any wonder he shows up to Spring Training thirty pounds heavier than last season? Armed with a complicated diet and a warning from Coach Zee, Gavin feels wrecked, until he finds a half-naked goddess on his parent’s stretch of beach. Funny how the body that has been making him feel so miserable lately suddenly has him flying high.

Curve model Emerson Raye wants to prove the naysayers back home in West Virginia wrong. Big is beautiful, too. All she has to do is land a spot in the Sports Unlimited Swimsuit Edition by convincing America to vote for her. When pro athlete Gavin Sullivan stumbles onto her oceanfront photo shoot and asks her out for drinks, Emerson and her assistant concoct a plan to leak photos of the date to the media and create the vote-getting buzz Emerson needs. Soon, Emerson realizes there’s more to Gavin than meets the eye, and their temporary, no-strings relationship heats up. But can something lasting survive under harsh media scrutiny when secrets threaten to sabotage everything?

Excerpt

Emerson had been kissed before. She had a modelling career full of air kisses, double-cheek kisses, and the occasional, friendly smooch on the mouth. She also had a personal life spattered with overeager, often rushed kisses that were nothing more than prerequisites for the main event.

Gavin Sullivan’s kisses weren’t like anything she’d ever encountered.

He took his time, eliciting pleasure with more than his mouth. His hands grazed her neck, his thumbs stroked her jaw. His fingers threaded through the fine hairs at her nape. And all along, his mouth explored her mouth. Lips to lips. Tongue to tongue.

He tasted like butter and sweet champagne. He smelled like citrus fruit and sandalwood.

She leaned into him and whimpered. Her hands gripping the collar of his linen shirt. Her body burned. Her brain urged her to crawl into his lap and settle in for a long, slow, mind-blowing ride. And she was seconds away from obeying when above them, someone cleared his throat.

“Sorry for the interruption.”

Emerson jerked back.

“Dessert?” the man asked as he set shell-shaped bowls of sorbet in front of them.

Gavin didn’t move. He didn’t take his hungry eyes off Emerson. “Thank you,” he said to the man. “That’ll be all for tonight.”

Looking into Gavin’s eyes, Emerson’s heartrate tripled. She wanted him. Even if it made her vulnerable. She wanted this. Even if it was a fantasy.

When the man left, Gavin grinned and reached for the silver spoon beside her bowl. “Dessert?” He dipped the spoon into the single scoop of light-colored sorbet and lifted it like he might feed her, but then, with an even brighter grin, he brought the spoon to his own beautiful mouth and licked it clean. “Lemon,” he said, his voice warm and deep.

She opened her mouth, and, for a split second, was afraid her throat was too dry to speak. “I like lemon,” she said, watching him help himself to another bite.

This time, he set the spoon down, and inched closer, so close, she could feel the cold on his tongue and smell the lemon on his lips.

“Want a taste?” he whispered.

She wrapped her arms around his powerful shoulders and pulled him in. Their lips locked. Their tongues tangled. He shoved his hands beneath her thighs and guided her onto his lap. Skirt riding high. Heart beating fast. She settled over his erection, biting back a moan as he nipped at her jaw and rubbed erotic patterns up and down her back. And then, he was licking her ear, tugging her lobe, sliding his hands along the silk of her dress to her stomach and the underside of her breasts.

Emerson tipped back her head, and her eyes fluttered open to the starry sky. Was it awful to pray during something like this? Because she wanted to. She wanted to pray for this to be real.

About the Author

Elley Arden is the author of the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed Cleveland Clash series. She previously worked for The Walt Disney Company and spent over a decade as a non-fiction writer and editor. When she’s not writing, Elley can be found reading, watching sports, redecorating her house, or kicking her husband’s butt in Words With Friends. She lives in Pennsylvania with her high school sweetheart and their three crazy (in a good way) kids.

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Contemporary Romance

Date Published: October 19, 2015

Cleveland Clash center Jade Wren takes her mother and grandmother’s Korean family values to heart, and living up to their expectations is a big part of that plan. But there’s another side of Jade that longs for something more than teaching elementary school and marrying a nice Korean guy. That’s the side that decides to kiss a sexy American stranger, simply to prove that she can stray from the straight and narrow every once in a while without anything bad happening. Except, the guy isn’t exactly a stranger. He’s sports radio shock jock Rome Rizzelli, and as far as the Cleveland Clash is concerned, he’s Public Enemy No. 1.

Rome isn’t the kind of guy to argue when a beautiful woman kisses him in a bar during a break at a remote broadcast, but the same beautiful woman ends up singled out by his new, feminist producer and invited on air to talk about women’s tackle football. It’s a battle of the sexes—a battle he needs to win to save his job and continue to support his disabled mother and younger sister. But Jade is no pushover, and Rome can’t decide whether that’s a turn-on or reason to fight back even harder.

When Jade’s cameo appearance on the Riled up with Rome show turns into a regular gig, the gloves—among other things—come off, leaving Jade and Rome bare. But can two strong personalities, who have found security in keeping up appearances, let down their guards long enough to fall in love?

EXCERPT

Jade left the restroom on determined strides, the blood whooshing in her ears. And even though the stairs to the bar were narrow and someone was heading down, she charged up anyway. You’re just going to have to move, buddy.

Glancing up—way up the steep incline—she saw the guy, all blue jeans and James Dean swagger, slow his pace. She slowed hers too as they met in the middle with two free steps in between.

There was a hint of a smile on his face. A little sexy. A little cocky.

This was exactly the kind of man who hung out in bars, exactly the kind of man she shouldn’t trust. Broad shoulders, rugged face, and a look in his eyes that said, “Hold on, baby. You’re going to enjoy the ride.”

Trusting a guy like that was the last thing on her mind.

She smiled, too, until her mother’s words of warning echoed in her head. Don’t trust your judgment.

But they were wrong. She could trust her judgment. She’d been on her own for six months now, and nothing terrible had happened. Just because she strayed from the straight and narrow every once in a while didn’t mean she was doomed. And to prove it ...

She raised up on her toes, closed the distance between them, and laid one on him. The kiss was sharp and short, like a bold period at the end of a hard-hitting sentence. But before she could pull away, she took a breath, filling her nose with the soft scents of denim, soap, and beer. Her mouth watered. Her brain told her to be still. Just a little bit longer.

When, bam! He came alive, brushing his lips back and forth across hers in a simple but sensual motion. He skimmed his hand up her hip, raising chill bumps on her skin. And then, he sucked her upper lip between his before he pulled back and whispered, “Hello, there” in a low, dreamy voice that somehow seemed familiar.

“Hi,” she whispered back, only to be drowned out by the group of women from the restroom.

They barreled up the stairs behind her amid laughter and a ruckus that made her think about her friends, who were waiting upstairs. Holy crap! Talk about getting sidetracked.

The sexy stranger didn’t say another word. He just stepped aside to let her pass, but not before he unleashed a killer smile that seemed to be saying, “Come find me later.”

But she wouldn’t. It was hard to get into any real and lasting emotional trouble when you didn’t take your interactions with the opposite sex seriously. That’s why she didn’t do relationships. Too risky. Her analytical mind preferred calculated risks. Like kissing some guy you would probably never see again—no numbers exchanged, no names.

As the women pushed at her back, she stepped up and up again, and for a split second, Jade and the mystery man finally stood on the same step. He was short! What a shame! A little bit of his sexy shine wore off, which was probably a good thing. All the more reason not to take it beyond one random kiss.

Caught up in the wave of women, Jade climbed the rest of the stairs, still feeling the rush of kissing a perfect stranger in the stairwell. Her mother and grandmother would call that bad judgment. Definitely.

But at the top of the steps, she looked up at the suspended ceiling and smiled. The sky hadn’t fallen. She’d kissed a sexy—albeit short—stranger, and absolutely, positively nothing bad had come of it.

Take that, bad judgment.

“Where the hell have you been?” Jillian ran toward her. “And why aren’t you answering your texts? You’re never going to believe who is here tonight!”

“Who?”

“Rome Freaking Rizzelli! And rumor has it, he’s hot! I don’t know, though. We haven’t seen him yet. He’s on a break.”

Jade’s steps faltered. A bathroom break? She swallowed hard. No. It couldn’t be. But there had been something familiar about that voice.

“Come on!” Jillian pulled on her arm. “You’re not going to want to miss this.”

Then why did she feel like she absolutely, positively did?

About the Author

Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness. Elley writes books with charming characters, emotional stories, and sexy romance. For a complete list of Elley’s books and social media links, visit www.elleyarden.com.

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