Title: Holding Her Close Author: Lexi Ryan
Series: Mended Hearts #2
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: January 19, 2016
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense
More Info: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon US
Purchase: Amazon UK
Purchase: iTunes
Purchase: Amazon CA
Purchase: Amazon AU
Hold your friends close... and your enemies closer.
She's everything he detests about Hollywood.
After spending my entire acting career being cast as the airhead, I finally have the serious role I've been dying for, and I screw it all up during a four martini dinner with my ex. Now, thanks to the morality clause in my contract, I might lose the role of a lifetime. My only hope is to convince the media (and my eccentrically conservative director) that I've entered a committed relationship. But when I use my brother's costume party to launch Operation Fake Fiancé, I end up in front of the camera with the wrong guy, leaving my reputation—and the fate of my career—at his mercy. Any other guy I could sweet talk into playing the supporting role I need, but not Officer Cade Watts. Not the man who hates everything about me. Not the man who would most revel in seeing me fail.
He's everything she needs.
I don't care how good it felt to have her in my arms. I don't care that I can't close my eyes without remembering the way she tastes or the sound of her moan. I want nothing to do with Janelle Crane. Her scheme to fake an engagement to save her own career is exactly the kind of manipulative Hollywood crap I left LA to escape. But when her fan mail turns threatening and the tragedies befalling her former co-stars seem to be anything but coincidence, everything changes. Now I don't just want to play the part of Janelle's fake fiancé, I demand it. I won't let my jaded heart cost me another case. I may not trust Janelle but I do care, and the only way I know she's safe is if I'm holding her close.
Title: Holding Her Close
Series: Mended Hearts #2
Author: Lexi Ryan
Genre: Erotic Romantic Suspense
Release: January 19, 2016
Excerpt
© 2016 by Lexi Ryan
“Why are you so angry with me?” I link my hands behind his neck. “You’re always so angry with me.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Rising onto my toes, I position my mouth by his ear. “No one’s going to believe you’re my boyfriend if you hold me like you’re afraid you might catch something.”
One second we’re standing there, barely moving on the dance floor. The next, he’s spinning me around, and I’m trapped between his body and the wall. He has one hand at my neck, the other at my waist, one thick thigh between my legs.
“You wanna know why I’m angry?” He presses closer. My already-short skirt hikes higher up my hips, and I’m treated to the delicious pressure of his thigh pressing into the lace of my panties. “Maybe because you’re reckless. Selfish. Immature. Maybe because for the last three hours you’ve been boozing it up with your buddies while I was picturing you bound and helpless to some obsessive maniac.”
Before I can reply, his mouth is on mine. This isn’t like the seductive kisses we shared on our first night together, and it lacks the tenderness of the kiss he gave me at the station. This kiss matches his mood. It’s hot and angry. Demanding and possessive. This is the kiss of a man who very well could throw his woman over his shoulder and drag her home. The kiss of a man whose woman would relish such treatment.
I shouldn’t be that woman. I shouldn’t even pretend to be her. But should has nothing to do with the way I open my mouth and slip my tongue inside to taste him. Should has nothing to do with me shifting my stance, lifting one knee to give his thigh better access to my aching center. When Cade touches me, should goes out the window and is replaced by must.
I must pull him closer. I must learn how his neck tastes. I must dissolve into his kiss until the world disappears. Then even must falls away and I am nothing but this ache where need becomes pleasure and pleasure becomes need. He called me reckless, and right now I am. With him, that’s what I become.
When he tears his mouth from mine, I gasp at the loss.
“Is that better?” he asks, rubbing his face against my neck and marking me with his stubble. “If I hold you like this.” The hand at my waist slides down until he’s cupping my ass. “Touch you like this.” The hand on my neck dips to skim the tops of my breasts. “Would that be enough?” He opens his mouth against my neck and sucks. Hard. “What’s it going to take to get you to listen to me?”
Note:
Each series can be read on its own, but for the chronology purists, the reading order is below.
Love Unbound: Splintered Hearts
Unbreak Me
(New Hope, #1)
(Maggie’s story)
Amazon US
“If you’re broken, I’ll fix you…”
I’m only twenty-one and already damaged goods. A slut. A failure. A disappointment to my picture-perfect family as long as I can remember. I called off my wedding to William Bailey, the only man who thought I was worth fixing. A year later, he’s marrying my sister. Unless I ask him not to…
“If you shatter, I’ll find you…”
But now there’s Asher Logan, a broken man who sees the fractures in my façade and doesn’t want to fix me at all. Asher wants me to stop hiding, to stop pretending. Asher wants to break down my walls. But that means letting him see my ugly secrets and forgiving him for his.
With my past weighing down on me, do I want the man who holds me together or the man who gives me permission to break?
Stolen Wishes
(New Hope, #1.5)
(Will and Cally’s prequel)
Amazon US
Cally…
A sexy smile. Intense blue eyes. A goodness that makes him want to save me from these rumors when no one else would care. I didn’t ask for a hero. William Bailey was never supposed to be anything more than a wish, a dream, an unrequited crush. Not for a girl like me–a girl whose fractured family has stolen her chance at a decent life.
William…
Since the death of my parents, I’ve always done what’s expected of me, what’s “best” for me. Until Cally. The moment her haunted eyes meet mine, the fractured pieces of my heart feel whole again. I don’t just want to save her. I need her to save me.
Stolen chances. Unbroken wishes. Two lonely souls grasping for hope in the darkness.
This novella takes place seven years before the events in WISH I MAY and shows William and Cally falling in love for the first time. It can be read before or after WISH I MAY or on its own.
Wish I May
(New Hope, #2)
(Will and Cally’s novel)
Amazon US
Nothing about her says cute. Everything about her says sex. And mine.
I never thought I’d see her again. Didn’t think I wanted to. But the moment Cally Fisher returns to New Hope, I know I could forgive her the most unthinkable secret, if only she would tell me.
This time, I’m fighting for her.
After seven years. After breaking his heart and dismissing my own, I’m still very much his.
I never intended to return home, but to help my sisters, I’ll confront my past…and William Bailey, the man whose eyes remind me of the girl I was, the things I’ve done, and the future I’ve lost. This would all be easier if William hated me. But he wants to be in my life, my secrets be damned.
If he learns the truth, it will destroy him.
Or read them together in the omnibus edition
Splintered Hearts: The New Hope Trilogy
(New Hope, #1, 1.5, 2)
Amazon US
UNBREAK ME
Twenty-one year old college dropout Maggie Thompson returns home to be a bridesmaid in her ex-fiancé’s wedding to her sister. Maggie hopes to salvage her long-tarnished reputation and strained relationship with her family, but finds herself caught in a web of secrets and deception between the man who once promised to fix her and the sexy ex-rocker who gives her permission to break.
STOLEN WISHES
Stolen chances. Unbroken wishes. Two lonely souls grasping for hope in the darkness. William Bailey and Cally Fisher are brought together by vicious rumors and are given a chance at love. This novella takes place seven years before the events in WISH I MAY and shows William and Cally falling in love for the first time. It can be read before or after WISH I MAY or on its own.
WISH I MAY
After seven years, Cally Fisher returns to New Hope and faces her high school sweetheart for the first time since she stood him up for prom. William Bailey is willing to forgive her for breaking his heart, but Cally has secrets even Will can’t forgive.
Love Unbound: Here and Now
Lost in Me
(Here and Now, #1)
(Hanna’s story begins)
Amazon US
Lost in Me is the first book in the Here and Now series, a spin-off of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Hope series. This sexy amnesia love triangle is intended for mature readers.
The last thing I remember is having drinks at Brady’s and trying to avoid eye-contact with my life-long crush—the gorgeous, unattainable Maximilian Hallowell. They tell me that was a year ago, but I have no memories of anything since then. What I do have is this ring on my finger that Max says he gave me, and this much-thinner body I’ve dreamed of most of my life. Aside from a case of retrograde amnesia, everything seems almost…perfect.
But the deeper I immerse myself into this new world of mine—planning a wedding to a man I don’t remember dating, attempting to run a business I don’t remember starting—the clearer it becomes that nothing is as it seems. Do I have the life I’ve always wanted or is it a facade propped up by secrets I don’t even know I have?
I need answers before I marry Max, and the only person who seems to have them is the angry, tatted, sexy-as-sin rocker Nate Crane. And Nate wants me for himself.
Fall to You
(Here and Now, #2)
(Hanna’s story continues)
Amazon US
Torn between two men…
When I woke up after the accident, I couldn’t remember anything from the last year—including my relationship with Max Hallowell or anything about Nate Crane. Now my memories are returning, but instead of answering my questions, they’re leaving me with more.
The man who broke my heart and wants to be my future…
Max is all I ever wanted, and now he wants to marry me. He’ll do everything he can to fill my life with love, family, and security. I need those things now more than ever. But can I trust him?
The man who stole my heart and wants to let me go…
Nate never made me promises, and I never asked him to. I’d been on the rebound, looking for a distraction, and he made me feel beautiful and wanted when I needed to feel those things most. He says he has to let me go, but what if I can’t let go of him?
With every revelation and every passing day, I feel more like Alice down the rabbit hole. I’m falling. Who will catch me?
All for This
(Here and Now, #3)
(Hanna’s story concludes)
Amazon US
What if you would never remember the day you made the most important decision of your life?
That’s what they’re telling me about the day of my accident—the day I put on Max’s ring and chose him over Nate. I’m counting on the wisdom behind a decision I don’t remember making.
Max is amazing—sexy, sweet, and kind. I was starting to believe happily-ever-after might be in my future after all. Then the unthinkable happened and my world imploded. If I’m going to make this work with Max, I need my missing memories, or at least answers from about those five days before my accident.
But what does my future hold if those answers aren’t anything like I imagined?
Or read them together in the omnibus edition
Here and Now: Complete Series
(Here and Now, #1-3)
Amazon US
**This omnibus edition includes all three full-length novels from the USA Today Bestselling Here and Now series: Lost in Me, Fall to You, and All for This. The Here and Now Series is a sexy, amnesia love triangle intended for mature readers.**
Torn between the man she’s always wanted and the rocker she can’t remember…and can’t let go…
When an injury leaves Hanna Thompson without her last year of memories, she wakes to a perfect life—right down to an engagement ring from her unrequited love, Max Hallowell. But each day makes her question if she has the life she always wanted or if she’s been living a lie. As she searches for answers, every path leads to rocker Nate Crane. And Nate wants her for himself.
“Sexy, twisty and utterly addictive…Clear your schedule. An amazing read!” –NYT Bestselling Author Kendall Ryan
LOST IN ME
The last thing I remember is having drinks at Brady’s and trying to avoid eye-contact with my life-long crush—the gorgeous, unattainable Maximilian Hallowell. They tell me that was a year ago, but I have no memories of anything since then. What I do have is this ring on my finger that Max says he gave me, and this much-thinner body I’ve dreamed of most of my life. Aside from a case of retrograde amnesia, everything seems almost…perfect.
But the deeper I immerse myself into this new world of mine—planning a wedding to a man I don’t remember dating, attempting to run a business I don’t remember starting—the clearer it becomes that nothing is as it seems. Do I have the life I’ve always wanted or is it a facade propped up by secrets I don’t even know I have?
I need answers before I marry Max, and the only person who seems to have them is the angry, tatted, sexy-as-sin rocker Nate Crane. And Nate wants me for himself.
FALL TO YOU
Torn between two men…
When I woke up after the accident, I couldn’t remember anything from the last year—including my relationship with Max Hallowell or anything about Nate Crane. Now my memories are returning, but instead of answering my questions, they’re leaving me with more.
The man who broke my heart and wants to be my future…
Max is all I ever wanted, and now he wants to marry me. He’ll do everything he can to fill my life with love, family, and security. I need those things now more than ever. But can I trust him?
The man who stole my heart and wants to let me go…
Nate never made me promises, and I never asked him to. I’d been on the rebound, looking for a distraction, and he made me feel beautiful and wanted when I needed to feel those things most. He says he has to let me go, but what if I can’t let go of him?
With every revelation and every passing day, I feel more like Alice down the rabbit hole. I’m falling. Who will catch me?
ALL FOR THIS
What if you would never remember the day you made the most important decision of your life?
That’s what they’re telling me about the day of my accident—the day I put on Max’s ring and chose him over Nate. I’m counting on the wisdom behind a decision I don’t remember making.
Max is amazing—sexy, sweet, and kind. I was starting to believe happily-ever-after might be in my future after all. Then the unthinkable happened and my world imploded. If I’m going to make this work with Max, I need my missing memories, or at least answers from about those five days before my accident.
But what does my future hold if those answers aren’t anything like I imagined?
Love Unbound: Reckless and Real
Something Wild
(Reckless & Real, #0.5)
(Liz and Sam’s story begins)
Amazon US
“You need a good guy. A long-term guy. One who does dates and romance and emotional strings…I’m just an asshole who wants to tie you up, make you come, and walk away.”
Samuel Bradshaw is a man with a reputation—the kind of reputation that should have me running the other way. Instead, it has me searching for the shortest distance to his bed. I won’t be the starry-eyed girl who thinks she can change a man like Sam, and despite what he thinks, forever is not what I need. I need the things he makes me feel, the way he turns me on, and the promise of pleasure in his eyes. This promises to be Something Wild.
Something Reckless
(Reckless & Real, #1)
(Liz and Sam’s story continues)
Amazon US
He talks dirty to me, but I don’t know his name.
He wants to tie me up, but I don’t know his face.
He turns me on, but I couldn’t point him out in a crowd.
I’ve fallen for an anonymous stranger, and now the anonymity ends. I want more than typed secrets and texted promises. I want something reckless. Heat. Passion. The thrill of being entirely possessed.
Because I suspect this anonymous stranger isn’t a stranger at all.
*****
Lizzy Thompson met riverrat69 online through a service promising to deliver meaningful relationships by forbidding its users to share names or photos until they’ve reached a certain benchmark. She was looking for love. He was researching an investment. They hit it off. Talked and flirted, hid behind screen names and cartoon avatars.
Now they’re breaking the rules and meeting in person. But Liz is prepared. She’s picked up hints and followed clues. She’s nearly convinced she’s discovered the identity of her dirty-talking online friend.
She wonders if her ex-lover Sam Bradshaw knows her identity too.
When she rolls the dice on one reckless night, her chance at something real could crumble.
Something Real
(Reckless & Real, #2)
(Liz and Sam’s story concludes)
Amazon US
After everything blew up on Christmas, Liz walked away from me, and I let her. She said she needed space and a chance to pursue her dreams. But we both knew she was running from the mess she made. Now the political campaign she used as an excuse to leave is bringing us back together and I’m proving to her what she really needs—not just the hot nights, greedy hands, and undeniable physical chemistry. What she really needs is something real. What she really needs…is me.
Love Unbound: Mended Hearts
Playing with Fire
(Mended Hearts, #1)
(Nix’s story)
Amazon US
Dr. Phoenix Reid isn’t who she seems…
Everyone knows a phoenix rises from the ashes. What they don’t talk about are the people she drags with her into the fire.
I thought one hot night with Max Hallowell was harmless. I never expected it would force me to face my past or bring back the man who swore he’d never let me go. Now Max wants to help me. Wants to save me. But if I let him, he’ll be destroyed. I can already smell the flames.
A woman with a secret past. A man determined to protect her. A dangerous passion that could cost them both everything.
Playing with Fire is the first in a new series of standalone novels featuring the New Hope characters Lexi Ryan fans have come to love.
About Lexi Ryan
Lexi Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of emotional romance that sizzles. A former academic and English professor, Lexi considers herself the luckiest girl around to make a living through storytelling. She loves spending time with her crazy kids, weightlifting, ice cream, swoony heroes, and vodka martinis.
Lexi lives in Indiana with her husband, two children, and a spoiled dog.
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