Tuesday 20 December 2022

Bad Girl Gone Good by Alisha Kay

 



When Aisha Rajput, the queen of raves and celebrity after-parties, is asked to plan a hospital fundraiser, she's convinced the sun finally rose from the west. And yet, she is determined to blow this brief out of the water for it is her one chance at redemption.

Seven years ago, she shattered Dr Kabir Pradhan's heart with a deliberate, conscious act of betrayal. The least she can do to make up for it is to save his hospital.

Aisha is the woman who loved him and broke him. The last thing Kabir needs is for her to do it all over again with his hospital. He doesn't want her, he doesn't need her, and he certainly won't tolerate her. Or so he tells himself.

When the hospital board leaves them with no choice but to work together, the stage is set for fireworks.

When the heartache of the past collides with the irresistible desire of the present, the future looks to be in jeopardy. Unless the Bad Girl goes Good and saves the day.
But can she?
And does Kabir even want her to, for like it or not, his heart has always belonged to the Bad Girl, hasn't it?



Read an Excerpt from Bad Girl Gone Good


KABIR

The Rajmata of Bannor looked positively hunted as she stared at me.
“She said she’s on her way, beta. I’m sure she will be here soon.”
My brow creased in confusion.
“Who is on her way? I thought we were meeting to discuss how to raise money for the new NICU.”
“We are! But you can’t raise funds without a proper fundraiser. And if anyone can organise a superhit, blockbuster event for you, it is she,” declared Her Highness.
What was the old lady smoking? We weren’t a Bollywood production house. Usha Kiran was a hospital with a reputation for quality healthcare. The manic gleam in her eyes made me very nervous, especially when she started throwing around words like superhit and blockbuster.
“She?” I asked carefully.
“Kabir, you can’t pull off such a big event all by yourself. You need an event manager.”
No. What I needed was for these old farts to get their heads out of their asses and come up with a plan to counter Her Highness’s schemes.
“Your Highness, we’re trying to collect funds, and I’m not sure how blowing up a huge chunk of money on a grand party is going to help us do that.”
The other members of the board nodded in agreement. The very thought of wasting money on a fundraiser made them turn ashen.
She shook her head in disappointment.
“Beta, sometimes you have to spend money to earn more.”
“Well, we don’t have much, to begin with, and I don’t think I can authorise such an expense when I could use the money to buy new ventilators,” I said apologetically.
I knew she meant well, but she needed a dose of reality. There was nothing glamorous about what we were trying to do here. We needed state-of-the-art incubators, ventilators with CPAP machines, as well as a well-trained NICU staff, all of which cost money.
“What if the board doesn’t have to spend a single penny? I will donate the money you need to organise the event,” she replied craftily.
“With due respect, Your Highness, why would you do that?"
She banged on the floor with the end of her walking stick.
“Because it is time to try something new. The world is full of people who have more money than they can spend in this lifetime. And some of them are even willing to share that wealth. You just need to know how to approach them. As for the ones that don’t want to part with their wealth, you need to know exactly how to lure and skin them,” said Her Highness, with relish.
Were we still talking about raising money? I had a feeling there was a ruthless serial killer lurking under that silk-clad grandmotherly exterior. I sighed as I resigned myself to an uncomfortable meeting with the event manager. But I would hear her out before I showed her the door. It was the least I could do.
I looked at my watch pointedly and nodded.
“Fine. Let’s see what this wizard of yours has in mind.”
There was a sharp knock at the door, and it swung open.
“I hope I’m not too old for one of your lollipops, Doctor Uncle,” called a voice that I hadn’t heard for years.
And yet, it hit me with the same force as it had seven years ago.
Her Highness rose to welcome her, but I stayed frozen in my seat, unable to do anything but stare at that familiar face. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What the fuck was Aisha Rajput doing here?
She walked into the room and greeted Her Highness with a warm hug.
“Now, where’s my favourite man?” she cooed, pulling away from the Rajmata of Bannor.
I clenched my jaw and stood up slowly to my full height as she turned towards me. When she spotted me, she swayed in place as if she had been dealt a body blow. I shot her a frosty smile that made her turn pale.
“Well, if it isn’t the OG Bad Girl,” I drawled.”


About the Author:
Alisha Kay writes funny, exciting and steamy stories, with spunky heroines who can rescue themselves, and hot, woke heroes who find such independence irresistible.
The first book in The Devgarh Royals series, The Maharaja’s Fake Fiancée, won the grand prize at the Amazon KDP Pen to Publish Contest 2020.

Alisha on the Web:
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Monday 12 December 2022

Holiday in Hiding by Lily Michaels

I am so excited that HOLIDAY IN HIDING by Lily Michaels is available now and that I get to share the news!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book, be sure to check out all the details below. 

This blitz also includes a giveaway for a self-care box courtesy of Lily & Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, check out the giveaway info below.


About The Book:

Title: HOLIDAY IN HIDING: A Secret Santa story

Author: Lily Michaels

Pub. Date: December 6, 2022

Publisher: Pride Publishing

Formats:  eBook

Pages: 181

Find it: Goodreadshttps://books2read.com/Holiday-in-Hiding-A-Secret-Santa-story

FROM EXCITING AUTHOR OF LGBTQIA ROMANCE LILY MICHAELS

A Secret Santa story

Hiding from his past may wind up leading Liam to the merriest Christmas of his life.

Constantly looking over his shoulder has become Liam Carlson' s norm after five years in witness protection. Living with his new identity has come with a major downgrade in lifestyle and a lack of any meaningful connections. But when he loses his minimum-wage job and the rundown apartment he called home, he finds himself in the middle of a Texas state park waiting for the marshal in charge of his case to help with relocation. A sudden, ferocious storm destroys many of his belongings, including the tent that offered him some protection, but it also heralds in a sexy-as-hell park ranger, Jax Gallagher, who taunts Liam' s long-neglected libido.

Jax and his wife, Megan, have had an unconventional relationship from the beginning, with a military romance that blossomed into marriage. Their mutual desire to share their love with a third member resulted in several blissful years with another man that ended when they left the service and took on civilian careers. An unexpected visitor in the form of a drenched Liam is the first glimmer of hope since then that they can reclaim the happily-ever-after they thought they' d lost. Their attraction grows with every second they spend together. While they become closer, another lifesaving rescue also manages to open the door to a career Liam never fathomed.

But the truth of the criminal world Liam grew up in threatens to destroy the still-tenuous bond the three are forming and the bright future Liam never believed possible.

 

Excerpt:

Prologue

Nate—Liam

A perfect circle of cold steel penetrated through my thin cotton dress shirt. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and fought to keep my hands from shaking. They’d found me…again. It was only a matter of time. I’d known that.

Fuck.

“Don’t move.” The gravelly voice behind me uttered the completely expected command.

I rolled my eyes toward the inky sky, barely noticing the full spectrum of stars. “Exactly how predictable are we going here, Joe? Full-on cartoon villain or just generic mobster? I want to make sure I keep my expectations realistic.”

A laugh, roughened undoubtedly by decades of smoking, was the response. “Name ain’t Joe, but I know exactly who you are, Nathaniel Cogliano.”

“Left off the middle name there, Joe. That’s how you really strike fear into the hearts of your prey. Take a tip from my ma, since she’s the one paying you to be here.” I sucked in a lungful of air. “And I call all you guys Joe. No need to learn your name, since you pass through soon enough.”

The barrel pressed harder into my back and the man behind me growled. “You think you’re something special? I’ll have you back to the boss man, collect my money and send your ass to the bottom of the river before breakfast.”

That was the moment I knew I could smile. The banter had bought me enough time to center myself and call my nerves under control—a sad fact for ole Joe. I was exactly the protégé my mother had always hoped I’d be. “The river? Really? Can’t we do something just a little more creative? Maybe a warehouse in midtown or a cabin somewhere upstate that you set on fire to cover the evidence? Work with me here, Joe. Bring something to the table so I remember who the fuck you are five years from now.”

“I’m about done with your ‘Joe’ bullshit, and you ain’t gonna live to see another day, much less another year.”

My grin widened. Irritating the latest thug who’d been hired to kill me was almost too easy. Getting the other man frustrated and off his game was the first step to controlling the situation. “Give me your real name or give me a reason to remember you—otherwise I’m just gonna keep calling you Joe, right up until I don’t need to call you anything anymore.”

I wished to every higher being I knew that I could see the man’s face. It was certain to be mottled and reddened from frustration. Fucking with these guys—the ones who were always hiding in the shadows waiting to deliver me into the hands that would destroy me—was one of the few pleasures I could find in my world these days.

Even a night at a strip club didn’t hold the same allure as it once had, which was a damn shame. But surgically enhanced tits shoved in my face weren’t enough to hold my attention when I was looking over my shoulder, literally and metaphorically.

The goon pushed the metal deeper against my spine and I counted to three in my head. As soon as my internal voice whispered, ‘one’, I spun around, grabbing the man’s wrist and twisting it behind his back until he let out a piercing scream and the firearm clattered against the pavement. I might be trying to claw my way out of the life of crime I’d been born into and live a more normal, law-abiding life, but the insidious part of my soul relished his painful cry.

The dark beast within me threatened to trample over all my good intentions, and a list of ways to break the hitman now kneeling before me in agony trickled through my mind. I tightened my hold on his arm just a fraction more and wrenched it back a little higher before I pulled my phone from my back pocket with my free hand and hit the number one contact on my speed dial.

Another anguished scream tore from the man’s mouth before I could utter a greeting. “Quiet, Joe. This is important business.”

“Fuck, Nate, what the hell did you get yourself into this time? You’re supposed to be lying low until the trial.” Deputy Xavier Brower’s frustrated and exhausted voice echoed across the line and managed to irritate my nerves that were still pulsing with adrenaline at the latest attempt on  my life.

The nearly animalistic howls ramped up another octave, and I sighed. He was going to wind up attracting a hell of a lot of attention that I wasn’t in the mood to deal with. I released his wrist, brought my knee up to his face and slammed it into his nose. Once he was flat on his back, I lowered my hand in a perfect slice against his carotid artery and he passed out before I’d even straightened my stance, grabbing my phone from the ground where it had fallen in the brief mêlée.

“Still there, Deputy X?” Although the assault had been brief, the events leading up to it combined with the actions to make my breathing slightly labored. It had been a long-ass time since I’d done any hand-to-hand combat, either in training or out in the world. I was clearly getting too soft.

An annoyed exhale was his first response, punctuated by a weighted silence. “Yeah, I’m here. Send your location and restrain the guy. If you’re going to live long enough to testify against your mother and her crew then we are going to have to hide you away.”

They were words I’d known were coming for a long time, but I’d deluded myself into believing I wouldn’t have to hear them until after the trial came, right on the heels of that statement. “Pack your bags, Nate. You’re going into witness protection.”

 

 

About Lily Michaels:

A medical professional by day and writer by night, Lily is a huge believer in love being available for everyone. Her novels always include an over the top happily every after for her characters. 

If you want to connect with Lily, find her on Twitter or Facebook and check out her website and book blog.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | TikTokGoodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 



Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a a mystery gift box of self-care items perfect for a "book date night, US Only.


Ends December 17th, midnight EST.

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The American Outsider by Homa Pourasgari

  "A charming read with characters who come to life on the page—and who live for a cause whose urgency shines through the story." ...