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Friday, May 6, 2016

BLOG PROMO: After We Fall (Take the Fall #3) by Marquita Valentine



Join us in celebrating the release of AFTER WE FALL by Marquita Valentine!


Title: After We Fall (Take the Fall #3)
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 26, 2016

A tough cop with an even tougher past, Hunter Sloan has never let anyone stop him from getting what he wants—and he wants Evangeline Ambrose bad. With her gentle curves and raw vulnerability, Hunter’s beautiful, mysterious new neighbor awakens his protective side. Determined to do right by a woman who’s gone through hell and back, Hunter could be the one to take away the pain—so long as his own secrets don’t sink their relationship before it begins.

 Having escaped an abusive marriage, Evangeline simply wants to start over in the small, quiet town of Forrestville. She’s also avoiding all contact with the opposite sex, because she just can’t trust her instincts when it comes to men—not even with the sinfully sexy cop next door. So why can’t she stop thinking about him? Hunter has darkness in his soul, and yet no one ever made her feel so safe. For all her best laid plans, Evangeline didn’t count on choices this hard—or temptation this hot.







EXCERPT

 EVANGELINE

 The pounding of shoes on the pavement makes me glance to the side. The sight of my neighbor makes my heart speed up without my permission. I suppose I can blame it on his lack of clothes. On the way his chest is freaking glistening in the sunlight. On the way there’s a dark trail of hair that disappears under the waistband of his running shorts. Or even the hair on his chest—not too much and not too little.

 His mouth is set into a determined line and the muscles of his thighs are clearly defined beneath the material of his shorts as they pull tight across them. A part of me wants to continue to make a study of him, or even compose an ode to his biceps, but that girl is long gone.

 My soon-to-be ex-husband beat her out of me.

 Like me, he’s not wearing any sunglasses, and the moment his gaze locks on to mine, I freeze, like a deer caught in the headlights. My stupid legs won’t move, not even to get into the shade my body craves.

 His lips curve into a smile as he slows. “Fancy meeting you here.”

 “Lucky me,” I grumble. The old me would love the way he looks at me, but the new me, the wiser me, doesn’t trust him as far as I can throw him. Based on his size, it wouldn’t be very far at all.

 “Are you a runner?” he asks, as if I haven’t been purposefully rude.

 I stare at him for a moment. While I don’t have time for any man, this man did rescue me. This man took me to a safe place. He didn’t lay a hand on me, didn’t tell me it was my fault or ask what I had done to make my husband mad.

 “No, I—”

 “Damn. You’re bleeding.” His gaze drops to my legs.

 “What?” I manage to gasp before he grabs my arm and begins to pull me to one side. It’s not rough, but it’s not what I want. Sheer terror slams my body, nearly forcing me to my knees, but I refuse to cave. I refuse. “Let go of me.” The words sound barely human.

 Immediately, he lets go of my arm. There is concern on his face, enough that I start to calm down. “I’m sorry. I should have asked first.”

 I rub the spot where he’d touched me, but I’m not sure if it’s to rub his touch away or in. “Yeah, you should have.”

 “I really should have. Again, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” He’s serious, sincere, and genuinely concerned, I realize.

 Swallowing down my pride and embarrassment, I nod. “Thanks. My knee is fine. I ran into a flamingo to avoid getting bulldozed by strollers.”

 His mouth quirks and his eyes crinkle at the corners. Despite his intimidating size and overprotective manner, he has nice eyes. Warm eyes. They’re the color of the forest behind my parents’ farm. Penn never had warm eyes, never had eyes the color of warmth. His were icy, cold . . . colorless like a glacier in the shadow of the clouds.

 Then again, hindsight is always twenty-twenty. I could be just as wrong about the man standing next to me as I had been about the man who stood in front of me while he vowed to love, honor, and cherish me.

 “You attacked a defenseless bird?” he asks, pulling me from my head.

 “No.”

 His dark brows draw together, as if he’s questioning my story. “It attacked you?”

 Flustered at the line of questioning, I snap, “It was stationary. Look, I wasn’t breaking the law.”

 “You were trespassing on Paula Case’s yard.”

 My jaw drops. “You saw that?”

 “Yes.”

 “I’m pretty sure it’s against the law to spy on people.”

 “You were in plain sight.” He crosses his arms over his broad chest, muscles rippling. I can’t help but stare. The tattoos on his biceps and at the top of his hips don’t help things. “My eyes are up here, gorgeous.”

 My mouth opens and closes a couple of times even as my gaze snaps to his face. “I wasn’t—”

 “You were.”

 Yeah, I totally was. “Don’t call me gorgeous.”

 “Wouldn’t have to, if you’d give me your real name.”

 I flush hot. “You already know who I am.”

 “Fine.” His lips flatten. “My eyes are up here, angel.”

 That was not the response I was expecting. Actually, I don’t know what to expect at all. I don’t know how to act around men anymore.

 “My name’s not angel.”

 “It was either that or demon.”

 “Are you kidding me?”

 “No.” Uncrossing his arms, he rubs the back of his neck with one hand. “Pretty hard to make demon out of the name Evangeline, but not for lack of trying.”

 “You—you . . . arg!” I can’t say anything to that. I don’t know why I’ve engaged in conversation this long with him as it is. “Stay on your side of the street, Hunter.”

 A slow grin appears on his face. It’s both sexy and infuriating. “Yes, ma’am.”

 With a little growl, I check both ways before storming across the street.

 “You forgot to look right again,” he calls out. “That’s not very safe, angel.”

 “I got your angel.” I flip him off, uncaring who sees me. Uncaring that he’s a cop who could probably find a reason to arrest me for being a jerk to him.
His laughter follows me almost all the way back home.







ALSO AVAILABLE!

TAKE THE FALL
Google Play: http://bit.ly/22QCJyb

WHEN WE FALL
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1AWFAgG 

Marquita Valentine is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Holland Springs and Boys of the South series.

 Since first taking the plunge in July of 2012 to self publish, Marquita Valentine has sold over a quarter of a million books around the world. She's appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling Ebooks Lists on iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes&Noble. She's been called "one of the best new voices in romance" (Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews) and her books have been accused of being "a sexy, fun, and slightly addicting contemporary read" (The Book Queen).

 When she's not writing sexy heroes who adore their sassy heroines, she enjoys shopping, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. Married to her high school sweetheart, Marquita lives in a seriously small town in the south with her husband, two kids, and a dog.
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