The Groom
Satin Sheets Blog - Blog Tour Promo Info Pack
December 6, 2013
Genre: Contemporary Interracial
Romance
Length: Novel (77,500 words)
Summary:
When
Lyle Cummings is left standing at the altar on his wedding day, all of his
carefully composed plans for the future come crashing down around him. The
pragmatic doctor is left questioning his well-ordered existence and wondering
if there isn't more to life than the achievements of wealth and career.
When
he meets Katrina Giordano, a fiery lounge singer with more passion in her pinky
finger than he possesses in his entire body, his mundane life is turned upside
down. In Katrina, he finds everything his life has been lacking. With her, he
will learn that what he thought was love really wasn't at all.
But
will Katrina's dark past threaten the happiness that Lyle has found after so
much heartache? With her life, and now his, hanging in the balance, Lyle will
find himself tested when it comes to how far he will go for love.
Excerpt:
________________
“ROUGH DAY?”
Lyle Cummings glanced up from the surface of the gleaming bar top and
into the eyes of the petite woman moving around behind it. She was holding a
frosted beer mug in one hand and controlling the Miller Lite tap with the other.
Sympathy flashed in her stare, causing Lyle to jerk his own gaze away as if
stung. He didn’t want her sympathy. All he wanted was peace,
and . . .
“Single malt scotch on the rocks with a twist.”
He knew that his request had come out more like a raspy, barked command
but Lyle didn’t care. Today of all days, he had the right to act like a
jackass.
An understanding nod followed, and the bartender quickly moved to fill
his order. She sat the scotch in front of him and accepted his debit card.
“Would you like me to start a tab?” she asked as she swiped his card.
“Yes.”
Hell yes. Today was also a day for getting drunk.
Plastered.
Shit-faced.
Wasted.
He wrapped his fingers around the perspiring glass and inspected the
bruised knuckles of his free hand. Mottled splotches of blue, purple, and green
marred his sun-bronzed skin, and swelling edged the bruise with a ring of deep
red. Lyle’s fingers curled into his palm as he downed the scotch in a few long
gulps, the fire racing through his gut elevating the adrenaline rush he felt at
the thought of smashing Jack Thompson’s face in. A few drops of blood stained
the cuff of his white dress shirt and the sight of it sent primal satisfaction
through Lyle’s gut. It was the only pleasure to be salvaged from the disaster that
should have been the happiest day of his life. Well that
and . . .
“Another,” he rasped, sliding the empty glass back toward the bartender.
She arched an eyebrow at him while reaching for a clean glass. “Who’s
the unlucky guy?” she asked, nodding toward his bruised knuckles.
Lyle grasped his newly filled glass. “Nobody.”
She laughed. “Looks like Nobody took quite a beating.”
That’s not all he took, Lyle thought. The reminder of the earlier
events caused his rage to flash back to boiling point; Jack Thompson may have
been on the business end of his fist, but ultimately the other man had won.
Even now, Jack was riding off into the sunset with his Holly and probably felt
not an ounce of guilt over what he’d done. And why should he? Holly was
everything a man could want in a woman. Jack had lost her once to divorce. It
was unlikely that he was going to be stupid enough to repeat the mistake after
winning her back again.
A frown pulled at the corners of Lyle’s mouth as he stared down into the
contents of his glass. The bartender reached across the wooden top and clasped
his injured hand. Lyle flinched and snatched it away, glaring at her with
narrowed eyes.
“I was just going to offer you some ice,” she said gently. Lyle felt
like an ass when he saw the bundle of paper towels clenched in her small fist.
He tried to offer her a smile as she pressed the ice-filled towels against his
knuckles, but it turned into a grimace as the ice came in contact with his
flaming skin.
“You should stick around,” she said warmly after he’d taken over with
the ice. “We have live music on Saturdays.”
She placed another filled glass in front of him and Lyle took it,
nodding his thanks and looking away, freeing the bartender to wait on her other
customers. He took his time with this drink, the tentacles of the first two
already reaching out through his body with warm intent. He hadn’t noticed much
about his surroundings since arriving, but he took stock of them now as he
drank.
The lighting was dim, which was good because if someone in the room knew
him, Lyle didn’t want to have to deal with that. The pitying eyes of the
bartender were one thing; the probing stares of people who were expecting to
see him with a ring on his finger and a bride on his arm would be enough to
make him want to go somewhere and splatter his brains across the wall. The bar
was long, wrapping in a serpentine pattern around half of the room. At least
three other bartenders worked the gathered patrons, who sipped beer and munched
on peanuts while waiting for the music to start. Conversation filled the room
in a dull buzz.
The other half of the room was filled with round, cloth-covered tables
and wooden chairs. Waitresses bustled in and out of the crowd in short skirts
and white tops, pens in their hair and comfortable shoes on their feet. Lyle’s
stomach rolled and clenched with nausea at the smell of nachos and greasy
hamburgers. He took another sip of scotch and sighed in relief at the feel of
fire burning the nausea away. Just then, he didn’t care if he ever had another
bite of food again in his life. If he could just crawl into the bottom of the
liquor bottle and curl up in the fetal position, he could die somewhat
happy . . . or, at least, numb.
Jutting out from the back wall was a stage hosting a microphone stand and
a couple of speakers. A red velvet curtain separated the stage from whatever
was going on backstage. Lyle tipped his glass back and stood, deciding that
listening to some bartender’s sister’s band sing the blues was the last thing
he wanted right now. Another drink, preferably in a quieter location, was just
what he needed.
“Closing out the tab?” the bartender asked as he stood and dropped a few
dollars in the tip glass. He nodded.
“Yes, thank you,” he said, holding up the makeshift ice pack. “Have a
nice—”
Lyle’s sentence was cut off by a man’s voice. A burly bouncer in a tight
black T-shirt was on stage, announcing the act for the night. He could barely
hear him because of the catcalls and whistles coming from the audience. Every
man in the room seemed to lean forward in anticipation as the curtains parted
to reveal the figure of a woman holding a guitar. She walked forward with a
bright smile, her skin bathed in the glow of the spotlight as she took a seat
on the stool.
Lyle felt frozen in place as she strummed on her guitar and opened her
mouth to sing. Her voice was like velvet, a purr that wrapped itself around him
tightly and squeezed, flooding his insides with warmth
and . . . something else—he wasn’t quite sure what. He felt
himself moving, and somewhere in the back of his mind realized that he’d backed
toward the stool he’d left seconds ago and was sitting down again.
≈≈≈≈
The e-book is on sale at $4.99 for the duration of the tour, normally
$5.99
≈≈≈≈≈
There will be a
tour giveaway with the following prizes:
1st Prize:
Paperback copy of The Groom
2nd Prize: e-Book
copy of The Groom
3rd Prize: $5
voucher to spend in the BDP Shop
Blog Tour Dates
December 6 - Book Lovin’ Mamas - Interview with Elise Marion
December 6 - A.R. Von DreamZ of Dragons - Guest Post - Character Expose
December 7 - A Little Fiction of Every Flavour - Book Spotlight
December 7 - Close Encounters of the Night Kind - Author Q&A
December 8 - AReCafe - Guest Post - Opposites Attract
December 9 - I Am, Indeed - Spotlight and Review
December 10 - My Fiction Nook - Guest Post - Elise’s Writing Habits
December 11 - BDP Blog - Author Spotlight
December 12 - Love Book Blog - Spotlight and Review
December 13 - Book Reviews & More by Kathy - Guest Post
≈≈≈≈
Elise Marion is a lover of books and has a special place in her heart for sweet and sensual romance. Writing about love across all walks of life is her passion, as is reaching people through the written word. The Army wife and stay-at-home mother of three spends most of her time taking care of her children. Her second job includes writing stories about characters that people can fall in love with. When the Texas native isn’t caring for her family or writing, you can usually find her with her nose in a book, singing loudly, or cooking up something new in the kitchen.
≈≈≈≈
A little about Bottom Drawer Publications
Read whatever you want, wherever you want, whenever you want.
Welcome to Bottom Drawer Publications. Our motto above says it all. Publishing both e-books plus print-on-demand for our novel-length books means that if you feel like something to read at any time of the day or night, you can download a reasonably-priced, quality book within minutes from your choice of booksellers, including our own digital shop. If you prefer to hold a paperback in your hands, our print-on-demand printer has presses in the US, UK, Europe and Australia, meaning shorter delivery times and lower postage costs to you.
We are an inclusive publisher, believing love is love, which is why you won't see a separate LGBT genre—we publish hetero and gay fiction in all of our romance sub-genres:
Contemporary - Historical - Literary Drama - New Adult - Alternative Lifestyle
Paranormal - Sci-fi - Fantasy - Mystery -Thriller - Steampunk
Paranormal - Sci-fi - Fantasy - Mystery -Thriller - Steampunk
Thanks so much for being a part of the tour, Ava
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome!
DeleteYes I think that opposites can attract and work! I am living proof of that but it Is not for everyone!
ReplyDelete