Live. Breath. And Believe — to Rena Novo there’s nothing better than being a part of the most popular virtual-reality game—EverLife…until she’s given a Quest to evict her best friend from the society she’s come to love. If she completes the job—she’ll rise to the top, but a sexy recruit is stirring a different kind of passion within her and making her question everything that makes her life complete.
Hunting for his missing sister, investigative reporter Gage Stone goes undercover in the gaming cult that’s taken over his sister’s life. But his biggest obstacle is the sizzling attraction between he and Rena, the extremely hot gamer assigned as his trainer. As their attraction builds, Gage realizes his sister isn’t the only one he can’t leave without. Now he must convince Rena the rhetoric the company’s pushing is just a plot that will culminate in the deaths of hundreds… before she turns him in and gets them all killed.
Publisher: Entangled Publishing – ignite imprint
Publication Date: October 28, 2013
‡ Follow Along to Win ‡
Monday, October 28, 2013
Authors’ Cafe {Author Interview}
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Paranormal Dimensions {Guest Post}
Deal Sharing Aunt {Guest Post}
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Musings and Ramblings {Author Interview}
Paranormal Realms {Guest Post}
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Margo Hoornstra – Writing Inside & Out {Guest Post}
Friday, November 1, 2013
Loralee Lillibridge – Blogging Across the Back Fence {Guest Post}
Monday, November 4, 2013
For Whom the Books Toll {Guest Post}
Romance Me {Guest Post}
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Amberkatze’s Book Blog {Guest Post}
Pretty Girls Read Books {Guest Post}
Thursday, November 7, 2013
What Readers Want {Guest Post}
Friday, November 8, 2013
“Your jacket?” she said, tilting her head.
He shrugged it off. She watched him, her blue eyes flaring hot, like the pilot light to her sex drive. Should he go for it or take a pass?
He wanted her–he was a man with a pulse, for God’s sake, of course he wanted her–but he had to do what was smart.
He dragged his gaze away, cleared his throat and looked around. “You’ve got some pricey stuff in here. God help him, he found himself staring at the bed again.
“I go after what I want,” she said, low and sexy, her eyes glowing hotter than ever.
She smelled sweet…edible. Was it coconut? Maybe just a taste.
“And what is it you want?” he asked, telling her he wanted it, too with a tone that registered in her eyes like the flick of a gauge needle.
She hesitated, stepped back, on guard. “It’s more important what you want, Gage. Why are you here? In Lounge Life?”
His answer counted big, he knew. “I’m a gamer. I needed a job.” What would a true believer say? “I like what’s here. It’s like a family.”
“You don’t have one already?” Her eyes glittered with suspicion.
“Not really.” His sister Beth was all he had and she was missing. That was his real reason to be here.
“Lifers are my family,” Rena said, emotions rippling beneath her words, like muscles under an animal’s pelt.
Their gazes locked and the connection went abruptly personal. He saw a lonely little girl behind her eyes and she, no doubt, caught a flicker of the grim kid he’d been.
The past reeked, but it was gone.
An electric thread sizzled between them. “What I want is right here.” He looked her up and down, wanting in, letting her see that. He liked the spark in her eye, the challenge in her half-smile, not to mention that tight, strong body of hers—everything in the right place and then some. He was pretty sure it was her hair that smelled of coconut. “How about you?”
She moved grabbed his belt and tugged, telling him all he needed to know.
‡ The Guest Post ‡
STOP ONE…IS THIS GUY FOR REAL?
Rena Novo leveled her gaze at her recruit, Gage Stone, in his beat-up bomber jacket and his dark, miss-nothing eyes, and knew this one thing for sure: She didn’t trust him. He was too curious, too skeptical. Also, too, well, sexy. And that made him, well, too distracting.
It was her job to be certain he belonged here, that he truly wanted to join The Life. “We’ll start with a tour,” she said to him. She would ask questions, evaluate his answers. He would have to prove himself to her. Too many people wanted a place her to waste it on a skeptic or, worse, someone out to hurt The Life like that reporter who’d written an awful story making Lounge Life sound like a twisted religion, with the Blackstones--the creators of EverLife, the immersive virtual reality game that sold like crazy to the outside world--gurus to mindless followers.
“Sounds good,” Gage said and waited for Rena to go ahead of him along the walkway that rimmed the arena. She loved the beehive buzz of electronics, the ambient trance music that, when players weren’t enveloped in head-setted game sounds, made them feel they were somewhere rare they never wanted to leave.
“What’s your game?” she asked Gage. The Lounge had all the on-line, console and computer games.
“EverLife,” he said quickly. That was too easy. EverLife was the most popular online virtual reality game ever.
“What’s your screen name?”
“Eyes Only.”
“Ah. I know you.” His avatar was a Guardian. He was a solid player who never flashed his impressive gear. Unlike Rena, he had no clan, but was a rogue. “You helped my clan on the raid on Castle Tragar.”
“Ah. So you’re Astra,” he said, a flicker of admiration in his gaze.
“That’s me.” She’d chosen the Greek Goddess of stars because of the bright heat she felt when she played. “We were outmanned. You loaned us your catapult.”
He shrugged, as if the aid was no big deal.
He knows EverLife. He’s a solid player. One check on the good column.
Rena was surprised to feel a flicker of relief that he’d passed the first test.
Let’s see about the next one.
‡ About Dawn Atkins ‡
Though I always wanted to be a professional writer, I wasn’t sure I had the stuff, so I graduated from college with a teaching degree and taught elementary school–second and third grades (the best)–and then began freelance feature writing for newspapers and magazines, local and national.
I left teaching to work in public relations–skills I use today in my job as a writer/editor for the Arizona Education Association.
I met my husband, David Weiss, my very own hero, in 1980, on an airplane. We made the “love thang” permanent in 1985, when we married taking our Hobie sailboat to San Diego for our honeymoon. Then in 1990, we welcomed a son into our lives. He continues to be the light of our life together.
My first romance credits were two stories in True Love magazine. I went on to write a sexy romance in 1983, which was rejected–sniff.
Years later–1996–I got serious about getting published. Though I endured some rejections as I honed my craft, in 1998, I sold the first of two short romantic comedies to Kensington Publishing–Getting Zack Back, published in December. In July 2000, Baby Makes Three was released. After coming in second among published authors in a Harlequin Duets contest, I sold to Harlequin in 2001, quickly selling another comedy. In addition to Duets, I write for Temptation, Blaze and, the new comedy line Flipside.
Most of my hobbies–sailing, scuba-diving, playing the piano (badly)–have gone by the wayside as I devote all my non-family spare time to writing. I live in the Phoenix area with my husband and son, who proudly brings my books to his teachers and swears he doesn’t read them–except for the funny parts.
‡ The Giveaway ‡
Follow the Tour and leave a comment at each stop for an extra chance to win a $15 Amazon Kindle Gift Card!
3 comments:
It's a thrill to be on this cool and spooky site. Reading the new scene I gave you, the first stop on the tour of Real Life Lounge, reminded me why I loved writing this story. Creating fresh scenes with the characters was a blast. Hope your readers enjoy and follow the "tour."
Best,
Dawn Atkins
www.dawnatkins.com
Great post - I love the cover of the book - Thanks for sharing!!!
Really want to read this!!
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