ALL I EVER WANTED
Book Description
ALL I EVER WANTED, a new adult winter anthology
Winterfest is heating up in Abbott Springs...
As the town’s yearly festival kicks
off, cold days turn into steamy nights, new flames will be ignited,
and old romances will be rekindled.
All About Us by Marilyn Brant—All
Sami Abbott ever wanted was permission to be herself. At home, she
aims to be the perfect daughter but never measures up. At college,
she’s the bold girl who had a one-night stand with sexy musician,
Alex Hamilton. When he arrives unexpectedly in Abbott Springs, her
worlds collide and she must reconcile the girl she tries to be with
the person she really is.
All I Need by Caisey Quinn—All
pink-haired rocker chick Everly Abbott thought she wanted was
acceptance in her straight-laced hometown. But her best friend and
bandmate Justin Cohen is about to show her that what she thinks she
wants isn’t necessarily what she needs.
All for Love by Rhonda Helms—All
Maya Monterey ever wanted was to belong. Happiest with the Abbott
family, Maya’s been secretly in love with sexy pastry chef Oliver
Abbott for years. With a flirty new look, she’ll pull out all the
stops to get him to notice her. And if her plan fails, she’ll walk
away from the only home she’s ever known—and Oliver—for good.
All or Nothing by Lexi Ryan—After
years of placing the wrong bets, all Aubree Baxter wanted was someone
to take a chance on her. Golden boy Kennedy Hale plays it safe in
life and love, but to keep Bree in Abbott Springs, he’ll have to go
all in.
Where to Purchase:
**Limited time release week sale price of 99 cents!**
From ALL ABOUT US by Marilyn Brant
“I want to hear
the song you wrote live,” Samantha said. “Tonight. Don’t you
have your own guitar with you? I thought you brought one here.”
“To Abbott
Springs, yes. Not to the barn. Mine is back at the B&B.”
“So, okay
then,” she said, studying me with those watchful blue eyes. “Let’s
go there.”
I exhaled.
Slowly. “Listen, Samantha. I’ve had a chance to get a solid look
at your town these past two days, and you’ve got a lot of people
here who are real protective of you. Half of them are maybe just
looking for gossip or to stir up trouble, but the other half are
trying to make sure no one hurts you. I don’t wanna cause you any
problems, okay? It’s getting late, and well, we should probably—”
“Go to bed,”
she finished for me, her voice low.
I nodded. This
was the best thing to do, I told myself. The best thing for her.
Though, God, I wanted her. So. Damn. Much. I could taste the wanting.
Feel it in my fingers. If I touched her, the electricity would leave
scorch marks.
“Then we’d
better do that.” She leaned close and whispered, “At your B&B.”
She snatched her fluffy pink coat and slipped it on. “Time for you
to take me to bed, Alex,” she added, her expression so determined I
didn’t dare to contradict her. “Right now.”
From ALL I NEED by Caisey Quinn
. “You okay,
Jubb?” Her eyes were full of concern when she looked up at me from
under her thick, dark lashes. The kind of concern no one had ever had
for me. Just her. Always her.
I gave her a
quick nod and smirked as if it were a silly question. It wasn’t. My
need for her had built to a dangerous level, and Hale had thrown
gasoline on my fire.
We reached her
house and she took out her keys.
I was good until
we made it to her door and I caught a whiff of her sweet strawberry
scent. She’d used that same shampoo forever, and it had been
driving me crazy since we were kids. But we weren’t kids anymore.
So I let go. Gave up my death grip on keeping my distance. Stepping
into her space, I pressed her up against the door without actually
touching her.
“Jubb, what the
hell are y—”
“Feel that,
Ev?” I grabbed her hand and slid it under my shirt. Her slender
fingers grazed my stomach. I pressed her hand against me more firmly.
Made her trace the hard ridges of my abdomen.
“Yeah,” she
breathed out, gaping up at me with eyes glinting with heat and panic.
“I feel it.”
“No more Jubb,”
I told her. “No more Jubb, or Jubby, or any other childhood
nickname you might have had for me. Call me Justin or Cohen. Take
your pick. Got it?”
My face was so
close to hers I could hear the sound of her licking her sweet lips.
And swallowing. Hard. “Um, okay. W-why not?”
This was it. Go
big or go home. Shit, I was already home. Everly was my home.
“Because,” I began, releasing her hand to brace both arms on
either side of her head, “Jubby won’t sound as hot when you’re
screaming it out later. And if I have anything to say about it, you
will damn sure be moaning my name in the very near future.”
From ALL FOR LOVE by Rhonda Helms
This town was my
everything. My family, my friends, my life’s breath, even. I needed
these people. I found fulfillment, purpose here.
My gaze landed on
Oliver, sitting with Kennedy, the mayor’s son. Oliver waved his
fork in the air as he talked, and Kennedy’s head threw back with a
burst of raucous laughter. My heart clenched tight as I watched
Oliver’s perfect mouth moving, the way that one dimple in his left
cheek deepened as he grinned.
Oliver was such
an integral part of me. This love I felt for him, it filled my entire
being. It set me on fire. It made me strive to be a better person.
One who was worthy of him, the man who was so damned good at
everything.
I would see him
work hard at the bakery, without complaint, and it made me want to
work harder. I would watch the protective way he nurtured his family,
his usual gentle demeanor changing in an instant if he felt someone
he loved had been wronged, and it made me want to pay that forward
and care for others like that.
I tried in a
thousand ways, every day, to show him the impact he had on me.
From ALL OR NOTHING by Lexi Ryan
I had gone so far
as to tell Kennedy I wasn’t coming home for the festival this year,
but much like Paws, I was weak. When Everly called and told me she
was going to perform here, I’d known it was the perfect excuse. I’d
wanted to see my friends and remember the good old days. I’d wanted
to see Kennedy and forget October.
Unfortunately, he
wasn’t going to let me.
I scrubbed my
scalp and exfoliated my limbs to within an inch of my life, and by
the time I turned off the water, my skin was humming.
I grabbed a towel
off the heated rack and ran the plush terry cloth over my skin before
tucking it under my arms and heading through the bathroom door to the
bedroom.
“Did you decide
to save some water for the rest of the town after all?”
I jumped at the
sound of Kennedy’s voice and clutched at the towel wrapped under my
arms. “Holy shit! You scared the daylights out of me!”
He kept his eyes
on my face. Of course he did. But I was standing there in a freaking
towel, and I would have thought he’d at least look
at my legs or the way the towel clung to my breasts or…something.
There I stood, weak in the knees just because he didn’t shave this
morning, and he didn’t have the courtesy to sneak a peek?
I was pathetic.
So. Pathetic.
Author Bios
Marilyn Brant is
a USA Today
bestselling and award-winning author of eight novels to date, writing
in the genres of contemporary women's fiction, romantic comedy, and
new adult/mystery. Recently, the Illinois Association of Teachers of
English selected her as their 2013 Author of the Year. As a former
teacher, library staff member, freelance magazine writer, and
national book reviewer, Marilyn has spent much of her life lost in
literature. Her books have been featured by the Doubleday Book Club,
Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Guild, BOMC2, and Rhapsody Book
Club, and they've won awards such as the Romance Writers of America's
Golden Heart, the Booksellers' Best, and the Aspen Gold Reader's
Choice. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her family, reads a lot
of Jane Austen, and loves chocolate, old movies, and road trips with
music blaring and the windows rolled down. Please visit her online at
www.marilynbrant.com
or find her on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/marilyn.brant
and Twitter @marilynbrant
Caisey Quinn lives in a suburb outside
of Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, daughter, and other assorted
animals. She wears cowgirl boots most of the time, even to church.
She is the bestselling author of the Kylie Ryans series and writes
New and Young Adult books about country girls finding love in
unexpected places. She can be found online at
www.caiseyquinnwrites.com
or on Twitter as @CaiseyQuinn where she spends entirely too much time
chatting with readers, writers, and anyone who’s willing.
Rhonda Helms
started writing novels several years ago and loves teen and New Adult
romance. She has a Master's degree in English and a Bachelor's degree
in Creative Writing. She also freelance edits (visit rhondaedits.com
to learn more about her services). When she isn't writing, she likes
to do amateur photography, dig her toes into the sand, read for hours
at a time, and eat way too much cheese. Rhonda lives in Northeast
Ohio with her family, dog, and a very loud cat. Visit her at
rhondahelmsbooks.com
for details about her and her books. You can also find her on twitter
@rhelmsbooks or Facebook at facebook.com/rhondahelmsbooks.
A New
York Times and USA
Today bestselling romance author,
Lexi Ryan considers herself the luckiest chick she knows. Her books
have been described as intense, emotional, and wickedly sexy. When
not writing, she enjoys watching football, perfecting her chocolate
martini, and reading her way to the title of Biggest Romance Fangirl
Evah. A former college professor, her biggest fears include faculty
meetings and large stacks of ungraded freshman composition papers.
She now writes full-time from her home in Indiana, where she lives
with her husband and two children and their neurotic dog. You can
visit Lexi at her website www.lexiryan.com
or find her on Twitter @writerlexiryan or Facebook at
facebook.com/lexiryanauthor.
Interview Questions
ALL I EVER
WANTED is a winter anthology, complete with sledding races, spiked
hot cocoa, and ice skating. Are you a winter lover?
Marilyn: I grew
up in Wisconsin and now live in Illinois, so I’ve had to make peace
with shoveling snow and scraping ice away every winter, LOL, but I
can’t say I love the cold temps. I am very, very fond of hot cocoa
(both spiked and unspiked), however, and I’ve always enjoyed ice
skating and watching the Winter Olympics when they’re on.
Caisey: I love
winter clothes, but the actual cold part, not so much!
Rhonda: For the
most part, yes! But usually when I’m inside, sitting by a
deliciously roaring fire. lol. I hate being super cold, but I do
enjoy making snowmen, sled racing, and ice skating. I also like
taking outdoor pictures.
Lexi: Maybe I’d
say yes if it were a sweltering Indiana summer out my door right now,
but instead it’s twelve inches of snow and negative windchills and
I’m feeling like I really, really
don’t like winter. But I sure don’t mind writing about it.
This
anthology is really unique in that all the stories are connected and
scenes from one story might appear in another. What was your favorite
part about working on this anthology?
Marilyn: I loved
the experience of getting to see a scene told in multiple viewpoints
by our differing main characters. And it was fascinating to work so
closely on a writing project with three authors whose stories I
admire so much.
Caisey: Getting
to see the many differences and similarities in each of our writing
processes.
Rhonda: There was
a community created by working so closely together that I’ve never
experienced before. It really made me connected to my story and to
the others. We were all vested in each other’s novellas, which I
loved.
Lexi: We spent a
weekend in Louisville to really nail down some of the continuity
issues on the anthology. We worked a lot, but we also laughed more
than I think I’ve ever laughed in my life. We writers spend an
awful lot of time in solitude. It was wonderful to laugh with people
who “get” the business like you do..
What was
the most difficult part about putting it together?
Rhonda: Oh, all
those nitpicky touches, the back-and-forth exchanges of scenes, then
going over and over and over it all to make sure we didn’t mess up
the timeline. FUN. lol
Marilyn: Yeah,
Rhonda nailed it. There were a lot of details!
Caisey: What
Rhonda said!
Lexi: To echo
what Rhonda said...When we were in Louisville, we sat down at about
10am to start nailing down some of the details. We went page by page
through each of our stories. “Oh, here your character says this.”
“No, he wouldn’t change it quite like that. Change it to this.”
“What’s Maya wearing that night?” “How would Kennedy be
acting at the opening address?” Yes! Tons of details! But it was
worth it to create what I think is a really unique product.
Obviously,
a love of new adult romance brought you four together for this
anthology. Name two of your favorite NA reads.
Marilyn: Aside
from Lexi’s, Caisey’s, and Rhonda’s stories, which are awesome,
I’ve also really enjoyed The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski and
Violet Duke’s Resisting the Bad Boy.
Caisey: Oh gosh.
There are so many good ones it’s hard to pick just two! My two
faves of 2013 were probably Escaping Me by Elizabeth Lee and Break It
Up by E.M. Tippetts.
Rhonda: Well, I
love all of my fellow anthology authors’ works, lol. Seriously,
they’re brilliant--make sure to check them out. But if we go beyond
those, I also adored EASY by Tammara Webber and TANGLED by Emma
Chase. So good!
Lexi: Oh, yes, I
echo what everyone else said. Read them first! Obviously we enjoy
each other’s work and that’s why we decided to do this together.
After them, definitely EASY by Tammara Webber and ONE WEEK GIRLFRIEND
(well, the whole series) by Monica Murphy.
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