Tag Archives: chosen family

Blog Tour: Night Watch by AG Meiers

AG Meiers | Night Watch

Burlington Inn #1

BANNER - Night Watch

Release Date: September 2nd, 2021

Publisher: Painted Hearts Publishing

Word Count: 85,449

Buy Links:

Publisher | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Bookstrand

Add to Goodreads

COVER - Night Watch

Blurb

A romance at midnight, but happily ever after at dawn? Complicated…

Hunter Jones is stalling. One day, he’ll be a lawyer in his family’s prestigious firm, but just not yet. Instead he is working the nightshift at the Burlington Inn. It’s the perfect place to hide from everything that’s wrong with his life. Once—just once—he did something reckless and it has haunted him ever since. Romance is the last thing he needs. But then a tall, dark, and sexy stranger checks into the hotel…

Detective Cole Sawyer’s life is a complete clusterfuck of his own making. His lies have ruined his chances at a fresh start, and his anger and insomnia constantly get the better of him. Cole has no business getting involved with the honey-sweet night auditor. But with every late night encounter staying away gets more and more difficult.

When a dangerous stalker targets Hunter, Cole realizes just how far he’s willing to go to protect the man he never should’ve been with in the first place—and Hunter starts to wonder what it’ll take to rescue Cole from himself.

Night Watch, the first book in The Burlington Inn series, is a contemporary hurt/comfort romance.

MEME4 - Night Watch

Excerpt

I stole another glance at the man across the front desk in the dimmed light of the entrance hall. I didn’t get many check-ins during the night shift. The Burlington Inn focused on extended stay business travelers. Most of our rooms and small apartments were rented monthly to companies along the Route 128 corridor. Of course, sometimes we had late arrivals, but a guest walking in after midnight was unusual.

The guy’s skin tone was ashen. He looked like he hadn’t shaved for two, maybe three days. Dark shadows hid under his bloodshot eyes and deep lines etched into his face. There was a faint bruise on his left cheek. He’d barely looked at me since he came in. His gaze seemed to focus on a spot on the counter, and his hand kept pushing through his dark hair as if it was the only way to keep his eyes open. I knew the feeling too well, but six hours of sleep earlier today had helped a lot to restore my usual balance. And then, work was my happy place right now, so all was good again.

If I had an overactive imagination, my mind would jump straight to one of those vampire movies Skyler had been so crazy about for a while. They always started with a pale, hunky-looking stranger, all dressed in black. I verified with a quick glance. Oh my God. Dark, washed-out jeans and a black t-shirt stretched tight over his broad chest and shoulders. He was tall, too, at least six feet. If Skyler were here, he would probably be freaking out right now. The guy was total sexy vampire material.

Just that my pale stranger didn’t show up mysteriously and unexpected in the middle of the night—Cole Sawyer had a reservation. Impatiently he tapped his ID on the counter. I tried to shut down my runaway imagination and focused on my job.

“Did you ask for a room on the ground floor, sir?” I asked.

He looked up for the first time. “Huh?”

“Do you have a preference regarding the floor—for your room?”

“No.” His voice was low and all gravelly. “I don’t care which floor, but I prefer windows that can open.”

“All our windows open. That’s not a problem.” I checked the reservation again. Tilda had preselected a room during her shift to expedite the late check-in: Room 124—right next to the elevator. The whole place was more or less empty, but she picked one of the smallest rooms. Tilda was real cheap sometimes. Well, Sawyer was my check-in.

“Tell you what. I’ll give you one of the Executive Suites on the second floor. It’s a small apartment, two rooms, kitchenette, and a balcony with a large screen door. All guestrooms in the back are away from the main road, so it’s nice and quiet. This one faces west and can get a little warm in the afternoon, but there’s a tree in front, so it doesn’t heat up too badly, and you can always open the balcony door. Does that sound okay?” I always babble a little when I’m trying to impress somebody, just until now, I hadn’t realized I was trying to impress him.

“Okay, sure.” He nodded like a man who really didn’t care much.

“It has a King-size bed. More space for—”

Cole Sawyer looked up. His eyes shimmered icy gray.

Shit. I wasn’t even sure myself where I’d been going with that sentence. “You’re tall and…” I was about to say build but caught myself in the last second and ended lamely, “…there’s more space for legs.”

Mission accomplished—I had his full attention now. He slowly raised an eyebrow, and I could practically see him trying to decide if I was drunk or was just missing a few marbles. But then, he grinned, and my heart skipped a beat. Not only did my tall, dark stranger have a sense of humor, he also looked gorgeous with his slightly crooked smile.

“Thanks. I appreciate it,” he said.

Appreciate what? The upgrade. The compliment. My face on fire.

Luckily, I inherited my mom’s Italian complexion. I moved to the other side of the counter to program the keycard for the room. That gave me a minute to recover.

“One or two keys, sir?” I asked.

“One is fine.”

“Okay, this is your keycard. I can really recommend Katie’s Café next door. It’s a nice place. They’ve got a great selection of sweet and savory breakfast pastries. Two coupons for free coffee are included with your stay.” I handed everything over and after quick directions to his room, Sawyer strode down the hall. I checked out his broad shoulders and nice ass when he waited in front of the elevator. Why not? This was probably the last I would ever see of him. I worked at the hotel from eleven to five thirty in the morning, not really a good time to socialize with any of the guests.

About The Author

AUTHOR IMAGE - Night Watch - AG Meiers

Eighteen years ago, AG Meiers came to the US for adventure and stayed for love. Currently, she lives in New England with her husband and two awesome kids—balancing work, friends and family, and writing.

When she has some free time, her favorite thing to do is travel and visit new places. Her past trips have already brought her to a variety of countries on four continents. She never passes up an opportunity to experience different cultures, diverse people and amazing locations.

Even though she has been dreaming up stories all her life, she has only recently started to write them down and share them with the world. As a writer she loves to put her characters through a lot of challenges, conflict and heartbreak, before she allows them to find their happy-ever-after.

Social Media

Website: https://www.agmeiers.com

Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/ag.meiers.1

Giveaway

AG is giving away an Amazon gift card with this tour

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Other Worlds Ink logoMEME1 - Night Watch

New Release Blitz: Pattern For An Angel by CJane Elliott

Pattern for an Angel | CJane Elliott

Release Date: December 1, 2019

Heat Level: 2 – Fade to Black Sex

Length: 17,150

Buy Link: Amazon

Add to Goodreads

 

PatternForAnAngel_PostCard4x6Front.jpg

Blurb

Can an angel gown for a little boy let a single dad and a drag queen stitch together a new pattern for love?

Hospice nurse Gabe Martin is bisexual but doesn’t have time for love—his main priority is raising Ian, his adopted five-year-old son. Ian loves wearing dresses at home and wants an angel gown for his kindergarten holiday pageant.

When Gabe visits a sewing store to get help with Ian’s costume, he’s assisted by a bewitching employee named Loren who opens up Gabe’s focused world.

Drag queen Loren Schuster likes playing with gender norms and wearing skirts and dresses in everyday life. A bad breakup killed his interest in serious relationships, but he reconsiders that stance when gorgeous single dad Gabe walks into the shop.

Loren helps young Ian see it’s okay to be himself, and together, Loren and Gabe create a new pattern for a family full of love.

Excerpt

Oh well, you win some, you lose some, Loren thought after he rang up her purchase. As he was replacing the purple-blue material on the shelf, the bell to the shop door tinkled. The store had been crazy busy, which was to be expected for the Friday after Thanksgiving. He turned. Now there’s someone I’d love to win.

The guy coming in the door was seriously hot—dark and lanky with a mouth made for kissing. He was being steered along by a gal, but they were enough alike to be siblings. Loren hoped. His mouth twitched at the expression on the guy’s face and his wide eyes. Safe to assume he’d never been in a sewing shop before.

Loren stepped out from behind the counter and remembered that he was wearing one of his favorite skirts when the guy’s gaze dropped. He braced himself for some negative reaction and was floored when the guy smiled happily and nudged his companion. She brightened.

“Oh, you’re perfect,” she exclaimed.

“I am? I mean, of course I am, but why?”

“We’re looking for a way to sew an angel dress for a little boy.”

“Aww. That’s wonderful.” Loren waited for Hot Guy to say something, but his smile was more than enough. “Do you have the pattern?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Hot Guy had a deep voice. Lovely. He got the pattern out of his bag and handed it over.

“Hmm. Yes.” Loren inspected it and nodded sagely. “This seems straightforward enough.”

“It does?” Hot Guy was even hotter with that hopeful expression.

The truth was, Loren was talking out of his ass. Mia was the expert, and this was her store. Loren enjoyed being around the fabrics and different materials, the buttons and the lace, because he loved playing dress up. But you could put what he knew about sewing into one thimble. However, Hot Guy and his girlfriend/partner/sister didn’t need to know that.

“The problem is,” the gal said, “neither of us know fuck-all about sewing. I still can’t believe Ian’s kindergarten expects the parents to sew these costumes. I mean, are we in the 1950s or what?”

“So this is for your little brother?” Loren asked.

“My son,” the guy said.

Huh. He didn’t look old enough to have a kindergarten-aged child. Bummer that Hot Guy was apparently married or whatever. But that was the story of Loren’s life.

Then the gal piped up. “Gabe adopted him last year. He’s a great kid.”

Sounded like they weren’t together if only Gabe adopted this kid. “Great. So you’re Gabe, and you’re…?”

“Nita. We’re sister and brother. Gabe’s a single dad.” Nita cut a significant glance at Gabe, who frowned back. Loren could relate. Sisters always loved to meddle in their siblings’ love lives.

“Hi, Gabe and Nita. I’m Loren. I’m sure we can help you figure out the sewing part. Let’s start with material.” Loren’s favorite. White satin was way more fun than drab paisley.

Ten minutes later, after a delicious wallow in all the permutations of white satin, they had the fabric. Gabe hadn’t offered many opinions about which material but had seemed amused by Loren’s and Nita’s many exclamations.

But when Loren confronted the rest of the pattern instructions, his head spun. Mia was usually here and helped folks with deciphering the patterns. Loren could only guess what some of it meant but did his best to pick out thread and other needed parts and assembled them on the counter.

“Well. This is everything.” Loren hoped. He started to ring up the items.

“Everything but a sewing machine. What do we do about that?” Nita asked.

“You can rent them. This seems a simple enough pattern.” Panic rose in their faces, and Loren quickly added, “Or, better yet, you can hire someone to sew the costume.”

“Could you?” Gabe asked, shooting a sudden intense glance in his direction.

Damn. Of course he could not. But something made Loren say, “Why, I’d love to!”

Life was getting interesting. Even if Loren had to learn to sew. By tomorrow. How hard could it be?

Meet the Author

After years of hearing characters chatting away in her head, CJane Elliott finally decided to put them on paper and hasn’t looked back since.

A psychotherapist by training, CJane is an award-winning author whose sexy, passionate stories explore the human psyche. CJane has traveled all over North America for work and her characters are travelers, too, traveling down into their own depths to find what they need to get to the happy ending.

CJane is bisexual and an ardent supporter of LGBTQ equality. In her spare time, CJane can be found dancing, listening to music, or watching old movies. Her family supports her writing habit by staying out of the way when they see her hunched over, staring intensely at her laptop.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | eMail | Instagram

 

Blog Button 2