Home At Last {+ Giveaway}

I’m delighted today to tell you the final installment of author Lily Everett’s Sanctuary Island series, HOME AT LAST will be available Tuesday, March 7.

As part of the celebration, the author is sharing an excerpt from her new book for your viewing pleasure. In addition, you can win a copy of HOME AT LAST. Please see the end of the post for more details on the giveaway.

◊ HOME AT LAST
◊ By Lily Everett
◊ Price: $7.99
◊ Publication Date: 3/7/2017
◊ ISBN: 978-1-250-07406-5

Home is where the heart is…

          Marcus Beckett left Sanctuary Island after his mother’s funeral, and he hasn’t been back since. Until now. Needing a change from the high-risk, high-stakes life of a bodyguard, Marcus makes a solitary life for himself running the neighborhood bar in his hometown. His only mistake? Seducing and then dumping the town’s sweetheart, Quinn Harper. Marcus knows he did the right thing—a good girl like Quinn has no business with a broken man like him. But now no one will come to his bar, and he’s watching his last chance at a peaceful life go up in smoke. So when Quinn proposes a fake four-week courtship, he can’t refuse…even though he knows it’s a bad idea. 

It’s a romantic charade that will buy Quinn time to distract her mother and father from their own marital problems—and will help Marcus welcome back some paying customers. But what begins as an engagement of convenience slowly transforms into a deeper connection, one that heals both of their hearts. . .and ignites the simmering passion between them. Could it be that pretending to be together is just what Quinn and Marcus needed to give their real love a second chance?

HOME AT LAST is available at the following sites: Amazon, B&N, Indiebound, iBooks, and Kobo.

Quinn had taken the floor for exactly the reasons she’d said, in addition to the knowledge that however little she liked to think it mattered, Marcus was ten years older than she was. And he was a secret stress case who carried all his tension in his back and shoulders. She should know, since she’d nearly sprained her thumbs trying to dig the knots out during a massage that had started out sexy and turned into a to-the-death battle between Quinn and the long muscles lining Marcus’s spine.

Marcus didn’t need to screw up his back by lying on the floor for eight hours, was her point. Not that she would ever say that to him. She didn’t have a death wish.

But as it turned out, the floor was more uncomfortable than Quinn had anticipated. And as the hours wore down, so did her resistance to the temptation of the warm, soft bed mere inches from her stiff, aching body.

She stared at Marcus’s sleeping form and wondered if she dared.

Then she wondered what the hell was the matter with her. It was a bed. They were adults. Sleeping next to each other didn’t mean they were automatically going to cross some invisible, arbitrary line. She wasn’t going to roll over in her sleep and accidentally impale herself on his penis. They’d be fine.

This is fine, she told herself, getting up off her shaky knees and creeping around to the other side of the bed. The way her knees popped when she stood up was a deciding factor. Quinn carefully peeled back the covers and slid into the bed beside Marcus.

Quinn held her breath, but he didn’t move. His broad chest rose and fell with his deep, even breaths. He threw off heat like a roaring bonfire; Quinn went from chilled to toasty in seconds.

Letting her body relax into the softness of the mattress, she drifted peacefully into sleep.

Quinn’s dreams were chaotic, flashes of memories mixed with totally random people from her past and present. She was aware they were dreams, in that vague way that happens sometimes, even when the dreamer is deeply asleep.

In the dream, she and Marcus were walking through the woods behind her parents’ house, holding hands. Even Dream Quinn couldn’t suspend disbelief quite enough for that. Marcus wasn’t a hand-holding kind of guy. So she knew it was a dream, even as he led her deeper into the pine copse, their footfalls muffled by layers and layers of dried pine needles that released their evergreen scent as they were crushed.

Come here, said Dream Marcus, giving Quinn the smile she’d only glimpsed once or twice—the small, private, completely unguarded smile that made

          Marcus look like the carefree boy Quinn had first fallen for.

She could never resist that particular smile. Not that she wanted to resist. This was only a dream. She could have whatever she wanted, with no consequences.

Emboldened by her freedom, Quinn followed Marcus down to lie on a bed of springy green moss. He lay back, arms crossed behind his head and more relaxed than she’d ever seen him in real life. Sunlight dappled his handsome face, patterns of light and shadow that shivered over his cheekbones when wind fluttered through the branches overhead.

Her heart swelled with all the feelings she’d been stuffing down and denying since the day Marcus un- ceremoniously ended their relationship. It wasn’t smart to care about him. She knew that, and Quinn wanted to be smart, she really did.

The trouble was that she’d never learned how to stop caring about someone. Her poor, bruised heart was as optimistic and stubborn as her hungry body was when it came to Marcus Beckett.

Despair teased at Quinn’s mind, but she pushed it away. This is a dream, she said aloud to remind them both. Only a dream.

Beneath her, Marcus smiled again, the smile that promised things like love and forever and the kind of pleasure she could live on. Thighs tensing with need where she was suddenly straddling his hips, Quinn felt the low-down clench of her body around the emptiness only Marcus could fill.

A shudder racked her, sweeping up her frame in a rush that tightened the peaks of her breasts and forced her mouth open on a gasp.

Yes, like that, Marcus murmured, his eyes going hot and feral the way she remembered from their first nights of passion. The grip of his hands at her hips ex- cited Quinn. She squirmed a little, wanting to feel it, hoping it bruised so she could look in the mirror later and see the evidence of Marcus’s desire for her.

With a smooth twist of his massive torso, he flipped them so that Quinn’s back was arching off the cool moss and Marcus was covering her with his body. Her legs fell open, wanton and wanting, and she relished the stretch of her thighs as he fit himself into the cradle of her hips.

His hardness slotted against her softness with a series of rhythmic nudges that stoked the fire inside Quinn higher and higher. In the dream, her panties melted away like fog, and he was naked too, and they were pressed together so intimately and perfectly and yet, somehow, there was still something in the way, a barrier to Quinn getting what she really wanted. Frustration mounting, she reached down between their hot, straining bodies and felt . . . cotton?

Quinn blinked and suddenly, instead of staring up at the waving pine needles of the Lantern Point woods, she was looking at the familiar starburst pattern of the plaster ceiling in her girlhood bedroom.

Her immediate thought was a dismayed No, let me go back to the dream! But in the next instant, she realized Marcus was still on top of her, his hard chest and strong arms caging her in. Their legs were tangled hopelessly in the sheets and they were both still wearing what they’d gone to bed in, but other than that?

The dream was real.

Eyes still closed, Marcus twisted his hips, grinding wickedly against Quinn’s most sensitive spot and scattering her thoughts like dried pine needles before she could figure out what to do. She reacted mindlessly, her body taking over and bowing up hard, her arms going around Marcus’s neck.

Through her haze of heated lust, Quinn saw the exact moment Marcus woke up.

Copyright © 2017 by Lily Everett and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Press

Author Lily Everett

LILY EVERETT is the author of the Sanctuary Island series for St. Martin's Press.

She grew up in a small town in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and now resides in Austin, Texas, where she writes full-time.

For more on your favorite romance authors and stories, visit St. Martin’s Press and connect with them online at Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at St. Martin’s Press this giveaway is for one print copy of HOME AT LAST by Lily Everett. The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only and will end at 12 a.m. (EST) on Sunday, March 12.

To enter the giveaway, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and follow the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load so please be patient. A winner will be selected by the Rafflecopter widget and I’ll send an email with the subject line “Thoughts in Progress Giveaway.” The winner will have 72 hours to reply to the email or another winner will be selected. PLEASE be sure to check your spam folder from time to time after the giveaway ends to make sure the notification email doesn’t end up there. If you win and you’ve already won the book somewhere else or you just decided for whatever reason you don’t want to win (which is fine), once again PLEASE let me know.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Do you believe in second chances?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Close To Home by Lily Everett

I’m delighted today to be a part of the blog tour for CLOSE TO HOME by Lily Everett.

Have you ever fought to put the pieces of a broken relationship back together? In her latest Sanctuary Island novel, CLOSE TO HOME (St. Martin’s Paperbacks; February 7, 2017; $7.99; 978-1-250-07405-8), Lily Everett’s characters struggle to do just that. Lily tells a beautifully woven story of hope, second chances, and ultimately, true love.

◊ CLOSE TO HOME
◊ By Lily Everett
◊ Price: $7.99
◊ Publication Date: 2/7/2017
◊ ISBN: 978-1-250-07405-8

The best journeys take us home….

When Tessa Alexander came to Sanctuary Island, she left behind a marriage to a man who didn’t love her the way she loved him. When she finally found the strength to set them both free, she discovered friendship and self-acceptance in her adopted hometown. Now she’s settled into a quiet life on her own—never expecting to see her husband again.

Johnny spent almost two years deep undercover, unable to let his wife into his cold, dangerous world. He’s shaken to the core when he comes home to find her gone. It’s painfully clear that Tessa is no longer the timid young woman he married—she’s become a force of nature, a brave and determined beauty. Johnny can’t let her go without a fight so he sets out to seduce his own wife. But will passion alone be enough to convince Tessa that her new life should include a second chance at happiness with a man who must learn to believe in love?

CLOSE TO HOME is available at the following links:

AMAZON

B&N

INDIEBOUND

IBOOKS

KOBO

PRAISE FOR LILY EVERETT

"I didn't read this book, I inhaled it. An incredible story of love, forgiveness, healing, and joy." — Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author, on Sanctuary Island

"Well written and emotionally satisfying. I loved it! A rare find." — Lori Wilde, New York Times bestselling author, on Sanctuary Island

"A heartwarming, emotional, extremely romantic story that I couldn't read fast enough! Enjoy your trip to Sanctuary Island! I guarantee you won't want to leave." —Bella Andre, New York Times bestselling author of The Sullivan series, on Sanctuary Island

Here’s an excerpt from CLOSE TO HOME for your reading pleasure.

          Physical awareness flickered to life between them. Johnny felt the heavy beat of his blood, the sudden tightness in his jeans. Turning her hand under his, he stroked his thumb over the thin, tender skin at the in- side of her wrist where her pulse fluttered. She filled his mind, his entire consciousness. There was nothing but Tessa. 
          “You want more, honey? All you have to do is ask.” 
          She shivered, her eyes darkening as desire blew her pupils wide. Lips parting, Tessa stretched up on her toes over the horse’s back and Johnny didn’t care about the thousand-pound animal between them—he had to get his mouth on her, right now. 
          Spearing his hands into the short wisps of hair at the back of her neck, Johnny leaned in and kissed her. 
          The rest of the world fell away, leaving nothing behind but Tessa’s sugar-sweet mouth, the high, surprised noises she made in the back of her throat, the clutch of her fingers in the collar of his jacket as she pulled him closer. He hadn’t kissed her since that first day. 
          He hadn’t wanted to push her, or to make her think all he was interested in was sex. 
          That was a mistake. He should have been kissing her every day. Every minute. 
          Clover took a step forward, jolting them out of their embrace. The horse looked curiously over his shoulder as Tessa started to laugh. It was the laugh Johnny had seen for the first time through the bakery window, full throated and joyous, with Tessa’s head thrown back in abandon. 
          Overcome with the need to seize this moment, Johnny grabbed the currycomb and threw it in the bucket before rounding the horse to snag his wife by the hand. Tessa looked up at him, breath coming in fast pants and eyes glazed, pliantly following where he led. It was all Johnny could do not to take her down to the sawdust-covered floor and hope Clover was smart enough not to step on them. 
          No. Tessa was untouched. She’d been waiting for this for a long time—and her first time wasn’t going to be a literal roll in the hay. But that didn’t mean either of them could stand to wait until they found a bed. 
          He reached for enough patience to get out of the stall and latch the door behind them. Dumping the bucket of grooming tools by the stall door, Johnny tugged Tessa by the wrist down the barn corridor to an empty stall he’d noticed earlier. It was unoccupied, completely clear of hay except for a few pieces strewn here and there, and Johnny backed Tessa into it for a little privacy. She went willingly enough, although he could see her brain starting to come back online, awareness of what they were doing starting to show in her eyes. 
          If he were a good man, he’d back off and let the sexual tension clear from the air between them. Tessa, who’d had so few choices in her life, deserved to make a real choice about this, one not clouded by overwhelming sensations. Johnny was at least a good enough man to vow not to take her here and now. He was relieved to find that he still had limits. 
          But that didn’t mean he could stop himself from providing Tessa with a damn good argument for why she should choose him. 
          Why she should choose them. 
          One smooth step forward had Tessa pressed up against the rough wood of the wall, his hand coming up to cup the back of her head and keep her from hurting herself. He never wanted her to feel a moment’s pain, not if he could help it. 
          A soft smile pulled at her mouth. She turned her head far enough to nuzzle his arm, her gaze steady on his even as her cheeks flushed deep pink. She was irresistible. Johnny dipped his head, sipping kisses from her lips, small and sweet and playful to make her sigh. Her neck stretched, so vulnerably naked with- out the covering of her long, brown hair. The fingers of his free hand had to pet down the pale, slender length of it. 
          Tessa sighed into his lips, a breath with a hint of moan underneath—enough to vibrate through her throat against the sensitive tips of his fingers and reverberate through Johnny’s own chest. Hunger throbbed and ached between his legs, heavily undeniable, but he ignored it for the moment. This was about Tessa. Tessa’s pleasure, Tessa’s awakening, Tessa’s beautiful, beloved, familiar-but-new body. 
          With a last swipe of his tongue across her plush lower lip, Johnny dragged his mouth from hers to nip his way down her throat to the juncture of her shoulder. He paused there to suckle at the soft skin, pulling up a mark that sent a heated pulse of possession through him. Satisfaction rumbled in his chest as he trailed his hand from her neck to follow the path of his mouth lower, and then lower still. She shuddered when he reached the full roundness of her breasts. 
          Hungry for more but unwilling to expose her in this semipublic place, Johnny’s fingers shaped her through her thin sweater. He loved the way she shivered and peaked up, tightening into a bud he could feel . . . and needed to taste. 
          Johnny contented himself with wetting the fabric over the hard tip of her breasts, rubbing the knit weave of her sweater over the sensitive skin before enclosing her in warmth and pulling strongly enough to make her moan. High-pitched and shocked, the sounds Tessa let loose made Johnny groan with the need to restrain himself. 
          He knelt on the hard-packed dirt floor in front of her, forehead pressed to her softly rounded belly as he panted and worked to get control of the passion that wanted to run away with them both. 
          “Don’t stop,” she begged in a heated whisper he felt in every fiber of his body. 
          Johnny tilted his head up to meet her stare. Red- cheeked and wide-eyed, Tessa stared down at him. She looked nervous, excited, turned on—but she didn’t look as if she were too overwhelmed to make a real choice. Her eyes were clear. 
          He still didn’t want her first time to be in a barn. She deserved better than that. But there were many firsts for Tessa to enjoy, and Johnny could give her one right here.

Copyright © 2017 by Lily Everett and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Press.

Author Lily Everett

LILY EVERETT is the author of the Sanctuary Island series for St. Martin's Press. 

She grew up in a small town in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and now resides in Austin, Texas, where she writes full-time.

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Thanks for stopping by today. What do you enjoy most about books that feature second chances in the plot?

Sanctuary Island Series

Winter is making itself felt in many areas right now so what better time to snuggle with good books. St. Martin's Press announces that author Lily Everett's SANCTUARY ISLAND, SHORELINE DRIVE, and HEARTBREAK COVE reprints go on sale tomorrow (Tuesday, Dec. 6) with new jackets and new low prices, just in time for cuddle weather.

I’m delighted to be taking part in the SANCTUARY ISLAND SERIES blog tour blitz.

You won't want to miss these three heartfelt novels that each showcase the power of true love through real life situations.

Lily Everett’s Sanctuary Island Series Value Edition now available with new jackets and low prices!

Here’s what others are saying about Lily's Sanctuary Island Series:

"I didn't read this book, I inhaled it.  An incredible story of love, forgiveness, healing and joy. " — Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Sanctuary Island is a novel to curl up with and enjoy by a crackling fire or on a sunny beach. It's a beautifully told story of hope and forgiveness, celebrating the healing power of love." — Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Willow Lake series

“A heartwarming, emotional, extremely romantic story that I couldn't read fast enough! Enjoy your trip to Sanctuary Island! I guarantee you won't want to leave.” — Bella Andre, New York Times bestselling author of The Sullivan series

"I loved it!  A rare find." — Lori Wilde, New York Times bestselling author of The First Love Cookie Club

◊SANCTUARY ISLAND

◊St. Martin’s Paperbacks

◊ISBN 978-1-250-09615-9

◊December 6, 2016; $5.99

When Ella's sister decides to reunite with their estranged mother, Ella goes along for the ride--it's always been the two Preston girls against the world. But Sanctuary Island, a tiny refuge for wild horses tucked off the Atlantic coast, is more inviting than she ever imagined. And it holds more than one last opportunity to repair their broken family--if Ella can open her carefully guarded heart, there is also the chance for new beginnings.

          Grady Wilkes is a handyman who can fix anything…except the scars of his own past. When he accepts the task of showing Ella the simple beauties of the island that healed him, he discovers a deep sense of comfort he thought he'd lost. But now he must convince the woman who never intended to stay that on Sanctuary Island, anything is possible--forgiving past mistakes, rediscovering the simple joys of life, and maybe even falling in love.

◊SHORELINE DRIVE

◊St. Martin’s Paperbacks

◊ISBN 978-1-250-09616-6

◊December 6, 2016; $5.99

Dr. Ben Faulkner is a veterinarian on warm, welcoming Sanctuary Island, a refuge for wild horses. Though he's dedicated his life to healing animals and rescuing the ones no one wants, Ben is nursing deep wounds of his own. After tragedy tore his family apart, he gave up his dreams of finding happiness long ago…until Merry Preston arrives on the island. Vivacious, friendly, and instantly loveable, Merry is everything Ben is not. She's also nine months pregnant and attempting to carve out a new life for herself and her unborn child.

          Though Ben tries to keep his distance, when a raging storm cuts them off from the mainland, he's forced to help bring her new baby into the world. It's a harrowing experience that leaves him with one great certainty: I want these two to be my family. Seeing his opportunity, he makes a dramatic proposal to the young mother: a marriage of convenience. If Merry marries him, he'll draw up a contract naming her son as his heir and promising to provide for them both. But as they'll learn, love is more than a business proposition…and it'll take all the magic hidden in Sanctuary Island to turn Ben's proposal into something real and lasting.

◊HEARTBREAK COVE

◊St. Martin’s Paperbacks

◊ISBN 978-1-250-09617-3

◊December 6, 2016; $5.99

Sheriff Andie Shepard may be new to Sanctuary Island but, like everyone else who comes here, she's already fallen under its healing spell. Andie is determined to leave her mistakes behind her and make this scenic haven her home. But she just might have to change her plans—as well as open her heart—when an unexpected visitor shows up on her doorstep…

          Caitlin is the ten-year-old niece Andie never knew she had. Silent, wary, and shy as can be, Caitlin only responds to the horses that run wild across the island. Andie has no idea how to deal with Caitlin—until Sam Brennan enters the picture. A tall, handsome loner who rehabilitates abused horses, Sam is able to help Caitlin break out of her shell. But that's not all: He finds a way to touch something deep in Andie's soul, opening her up to the healing power of love. Together, these three lost souls must face the darkness in their past to build a brighter future. Because here, on Sanctuary Island, anything is possible…

Author Lily Everett

Lily Everett grew up in a small town in Virginia reading Misty of Chincoteague and Black Beauty, taking riding lessons, and longing for a horse of her own. Sadly, her parents gave her a college education instead--but she never forgot what the world looked like from the back of a horse.

She currently lives in Austin, Texas, where she writes full-time. Her books include Sanctuary Island and The Fireside Inn.

For more on Lily and her writing, visit her website.

Thanks for stopping by today. Do you enjoy books that are set on small islands creating quaint communities? Don’t you just love it when you find a bargain on your favorite books?