Ghosted by Lori Matsourani

Ghosted 

by Lori Matsourani

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Blurb:

A haunted inn, a first crush, and a second chance for love with help (?) from the resident ghost… 

When her fiancé’s infidelity prompts Bethany Hendren to map out a new path forward, her plans are disrupted by an unexpected encounter with Nick Dorsey, who convinces her to help search for the remains of a troubled eighteenth-century ghost. Nick is the handsome summer boyfriend who ghosted her years ago, and now he wants to rekindle their relationship. 

Despite her reluctance to trust him, Bethany discovers he’s still the funny, caring person who captured her heart as a teen, but giving him a second chance is risky—it could lead to love and happiness or result in another devastating heartache. 

Although Bethany wants a happily-ever-after with Nick, does she have the courage to trust him with her future? 

Excerpt:

As Mrs. Snowden spoke, a tall, dark-haired man entered the foyer. He wore jeans and a soft blue crewneck sweater that accentuated his lanky, yet solid, build. As soon as he saw Bethany, his face lit up. “Bethany!” He walked toward her as though they were long-lost friends, and she half expected him to pull her into an embrace. Then she recognized the dark chocolate eyes behind the black-framed glasses and her stomach lurched. Nick Dorsey. He’s Mrs. Snowden’s nephew? “Aunt Margaret told me you were checking in today.” Stunned, Bethany stepped backward, bumping into the edge of the desk as her heart thudded. A white-hot flush scorched every inch of her skin as she stared at Nick. Of all the people she could run into, it had to be the first guy to break her heart? And why did he have to be so handsome, with that bit of hair curling over his forehead and late-day stubble? She inhaled deeply to rein in her composure, hating her can’t-catch-your-breath reaction to him, then dipped her chin in a neutral acknowledgment. “Hello, Nick.” His smile morphed into a full-on, lopsided grin. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen you. Ten years, I bet. Not since the summer Zach and I got our drivers’ licenses.” Mrs. Snowden laid her hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Bethany is staying in the Howard Room. Can you help her with her bag?” Then, turning to Bethany, she said, “Come back down when you’re ready and I’ll give you a tour of the house.” As Bethany followed Nick to the second floor, the pain, questions, and self-doubts she’d buried years ago reemerged, seeping into her belly like liquid concrete. The last thing she needed was Nick Dorsey invading her healing zone. It had taken her months to get over the summer romance they’d shared—and he’d abruptly ended—when they were teens. And even longer before she could bring herself to date again. And now he was in her safe space.

Author Bio:

  Lori Matsourani is a romance addict. Give her stories with a touch of heartbreak and a spark of joy, and she’s happy. Throw in characters with a huge helping of heart and soul, and she’s up reading all night in romance heaven! While currently a Texas resident, Lori grew up near Baltimore and often draws on the historical flavor of Annapolis and Maryland’s Eastern Shore to inspire her story settings. She authored her first fiction story at twelve and has been hooked on writing ever since. Early on, her writing career focused on articles for magazines and newspapers before shifting to her first writing love—fiction. For Lori, connecting words to tell a story is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, and she loves the challenge of creating every piece.  

Website: https://lorimatsourani.com  

 

Bonded For Life by Sharon BuchBinder

 

 

Was she a dangerous infatuation, or a second chance at love?

Bonded for Life

by Sharon Buchbinder

Genre: Small Town, Second Chance, Romantic Suspense 

Lola Getz and Webster Bond felt an instant spark when they met as high school students in Victory Shores. But their budding romance was cut short when Lola’s parents died in a plane crash and she had to return to Mexico. There, she became a famous artist and married a man who turned out to be a fraud. Webster, meanwhile, joined the army, earned medals of honor, and came back to his hometown as a cop.

Years later, Lola’s life is in danger when armed men break into her house. She flees to the only place she feels safe: her twenty-fifth high school reunion. Webster is surprised and thrilled to see her again—and vows to keep her safe. But is she his long-lost love or a deadly temptation?

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Prologue Victory Shores High School Victory Shores, New York Twenty-Five Years Ago Lola Getz threaded her way through the crowd, anxious to get to her locker to grab her books for her next class. Members of the football team, spread out between the locker-lined walls, streamed toward her and blocked her path. Madre de Dios. Just what I need today. A hulking offensive linebacker stepped in front of her and stared down her blouse. “Hey, Chica! Why are you in such a hurry?” Waves of body odor rolled off him and over Lola. Wishing she had a can of deodorant to hose him down, she waved a hand in front of her face to dispel the B.O. “I have to get to class.” “I have to get to class,” he mimicked in a high-pitched voice. “Why bother? You’re going to get married and change diapers.” How many times in her life had she heard this sexist crap? She was sick and tired of being told all she was good for was to take care of a man and to breed. She was an artist, a damn good one, and no one was going to take that away from her. No one. Someone pinched her butt. Hard. She whirled and kneed the creep in the crotch. The quarterback, who often bragged he was the smartest player on the team, howled and dropped to the floor. Lola considered the writhing boy. “Not so smart now, are you?” Ms. Cross, the Women’s Studies teacher, materialized at her elbow. “Where are you supposed to be, Lola?” “I was trying to get to my locker—until this pack of hyenas attacked me.” “Go on. I’ll take care of them.” Ms. Cross yelled, “A month’s detention for the entire football team.” “Aww, come on!” “Not fair.” “We were joking!” “She attacked the QB!” “I didn’t do nothing!” “Dickhead made us do it!” Escaping the tumult, Lola raced down the hall and around the corner. She skidded to a stop at her locker and yanked the door open. She had a fraction of a second to register something didn’t belong in the narrow space—a scrawny kid!—before he fell on top of her. With a loud “oof,” she landed flat on her back on the floor. The boy’s face smashed into hers, his beak of a nose pressing into her right eyeball. In the moment, all she could think of was, “At least he doesn’t reek of B.O.!” “Ohmigod, ohmigod!” The kid scrambled to get up, slid on the notebook-paper-strewn floor, and fell on top of her again. A sharp elbow jabbed her in the breast. “Watch it, compadre!” she yelped. His arms flailed and sought purchase on the recently waxed floor. “Sorry,” the kid moaned. “Sorry, so sorry!” She attempted to roll out from under him, only to get tangled in his legs. Madre de Dios. What else can go wrong today? The poor boy’s expression as he tried to get off her, only to slide with a clang into the metal locker, set her off on a burst of giggles. “Ohmigod, you’re crying.” His face creased with worry. “Don’t move. I’ll get the school nurse.” Shaking with mirth, Lola gasped, “No. Stop. Don’t go.” He knelt at her side and peered into her eyes. “Your pupils are dilated. You’re in shock.” “I’m fine, I swear.” She sat up and wiped a tear off her cheek. “Who put you in there?” “My arch-enemy, Dick Heade, and his merry football henchmen.” The kid extended his hand and assisted her to her feet. “They think it’s tons of fun.” “What a cabrón!” “If that means what I think it means, yeah. He is a—” “Bastard.” “I was going to say dickhead, but then that’s his name.” The boy shrugged. “Overkill.” If the kid hadn’t been as skinny as a decoration for Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, he would have been cute—and sexy in a Johnny Depp kind of way. When he’d been on top of her, he’d rubbed her in all the wrong places—and caused all kinds of sensations that she’d never felt before. In fact, she hadn’t wanted the feelings to stop. Where had that come from? And he’d made her laugh. No other guy in this school had made her giggle like that before. “What is your name, amigo?” “Webster. Webster Bond.” “Hmm. Stirred but not shaken. I like that in a man.” His face became a deep red. “And you are…?” “Lola. Lola Getz.” The class bell rang. “Mierda. Late—again.”

Sharon Buchbinder has been writing fiction since middle school and has the rejection slips to prove it. An RN, she provided health care delivery, became a researcher, association executive, obtained a PhD in Public Health, and is an administrator in higher education. She is the author of the Hotel LaBelle Series, the Jinni Hunter Series, and the Obsession Series. When not attempting to make students and colleagues laugh or writing, she can be found walking her pugs, Agent Frank and Igor Valentino, waiting on her Maine Coon cat, Buster Brown,  or breaking bread and laughing with family and friends.

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Jazz House: Impact Series by D.V. Stone

Jazz House:  Impact Series

by D.V. Stone

https://books2read.com/JazzHouse 

Book Blurb: 

Jordan Vasilakis is on the run, living under an assumed name. After a disastrous marriage to a notorious Greek business tycoon, she flees to the States and starts rebuilding her life. But her ruthless husband is determined to destroy her…once he finds her. 

Michael Machau is drawn to the new singer at Jazz House restaurant, but the guarded woman is harboring dangerous secrets. The dedicated police officer may have to risk more than just his heart to forge a connection with the woman he knows as Madeline Cielo, especially when he discovers she’s living a lie. 

Worlds collide. Lies entangle. Survival, much less love, is in question. They must quickly distinguish friends from enemies or risk losing everything—including a future together. 

 

Excerpt:

Jordan scrambled to the other side of the limo.  

“You sing good tonight.” He scrolled through his phone.  

“Yes, Kyrios.”  

Outside the window, massive cruise ships docked in the port. Happy older people made their way up the gangplanks toting bags filled with souvenirs, while the younger ones debarked dressed for the nightlife. Sparkly sequins flashed like diamonds as one young woman twirled on the pier.  

God, how had she come to this life? She willed her hovering tears not to fall. Kyrios wouldn’t approve.  

When she was offered a place in the touring group ten years ago, she thought it was the beginning of great things. Standing in the cabaret with the lights shining down was her dream come true. When she was the woman in the sparkly dress.  

Until he showed up.  

Each night, Kyrios Vasilakis, Greek business tycoon, sat at the front table watching her. Yes, he was older but so very handsome. Dark hair with silver at the temples, he cut a dashing figure in his black suits.  

Jordan began to sing to him. It was the beginning of the end. After a whirlwind romance, she found herself a prisoner in marriage to a brute. 

 

  

Author  Bio:

D. V. Stone is an award-winning author of independent and traditionally published works. She hosts a popular book and author blog, Around the Fire, and is a contributing writer for Still Moments Magazine, Dishing With D.V. 

A Brooklyn, NY native, D.V. Stone has lived in many places, though she’s called New Jersey home for the past twenty-eight years.  

A self-described Jack of All trades, she’s lived on a dairy farm in Minnesota, and a horse farm in NJ, before following a wide and varied path from waiting tables in a truck stop and as a motel maid. For many years she worked with the disabled and then became a volunteer EMT. That started her on the road to a thirty-plus year medical career spanning a hospital emergency room, women’s state prison, animal emergency hospital, and ending up in a radiology office. Taking a break from medical for a few years, she became the owner of Heavenly Brew, a specialty coffee shop in Sparta, NJ, and a small restaurant in Lafayette.  

These days as a full-time author, she travels with her husband of twenty-eight years, dog Hali, and cat Baby in a 41ft 5th Wheel. 

“Thank you for taking the time to read about me. Each time you open the pages to one of my books, I hope you’ll be swept away by the story and find encouragement in the pages. Never give up on hope.” 

 

D.V. Stone 

 

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