by LJ Evans
Here’s a little taste of Forged by Sacrifice:
“I’d really like to kiss you,” he said quietly.
I looked into his eyes that were the color of the sky and the sea all rolled into one. His face was so gorgeous, with its day-old stubble and square planes, that it was like looking at a piece of art you’d never expected to see up close in person.
“I’d really like you to kiss me, too. But let’s face it, it isn’t a good idea,” I answered back, unable to deny the attraction that existed between the two of us from the moment we’d met in my salon two years ago, regardless of the relationship I’d just left behind.
His head inclined in silent agreement. It wasn’t a good idea. Disappointment curled through me even as I knew it was better this way.
His hand moved to caress my cheek. Gently. Soothing.
“Can I ask why you think it’s a bad idea?” he inquired.
His voice had turned a notch deeper in blatant desire, making my heart pound against my chest in a heavy beat that denied my words. I ached to kiss him. To feel those almost too-perfect lips against my own. To feel the strength that poured from him, in muscle and character, reaching out to touch my soul.
“Ava and Eli,” I said quietly. “Awkwardness later.”
He nodded again, that new and unfamiliar feeling of disappointment reaching up into my throat at his action. My body didn’t want him to nod, but my brain was still ruling my movements.
“One kiss,” he muttered, a finger traveled to my lips, caressing the bottom one with a gentle touch like the one he’d used on the tomatoes the day before. Surprising. Sexy. My breath escaped in a gasp that sounded almost like a moan.
And then his lips were on mine, just like the touch, gentle and yet full of heat, longing filling us both, desire escaping from us and mingling in an excursion that felt like heartbreak and loneliness and promises that would never be. The gentleness gave way to a fierceness that was as unexpected as the gentleness had been. His hand went to my lower back, pulling me toward him tighter so that our bodies and curves joined in a way that felt like opposite ends of magnets finally clicking together. Parallel forces drawn, as if by physics itself.
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The third Anchor Novel, AVENGED BY LOVE, is Truck and Jersey’s standalone fake marriage, slow-burn romance you might not want to miss. https://amzn.to/31ma5fZ
One of the BookBub 5-star reviews says, “This book has wings of its own that will take you on one of the greatest love story adventures!"
Here’s a little teaser from Avenged by Love for you:
The man shut the bar, clicked the button next to him, and we swooshed backward while he loaded the next car. Our seat continued to sway, and I gripped the bar.
Jersey laughed next to me, and I turned my head from the ground disappearing beneath us to her. To the beauty that was the pale vision next to me. “This is funny to you?”
“It’s just…you’re this big, bad Coast Guard, all protective He-man action. So, it’s strange to see you afraid of a simple machine.”
“We aren’t birds. We don’t have wings. If we fall, there will be nothing to save us.”
“We’re not going to fall. Don’t look at the ground, look out.” She took my chin in her hand and drew it up from the ground so I was looking out at the ocean, and I realized, for the first time, that the skies weren’t blue, and the sun wasn’t shining. I hadn’t really noticed it when I was spending time with someone who was as bright as the sun. And Jersey was exactly that when she let herself come out from behind her shield.
The ocean was rough, and the wind whipping around us was more from the ominous clouds than the ride. The air was hot and humid, but it was also charged with energy, and I regretted ever stepping foot on the ride.
“What the hell are we doing on this thing in a storm?” I croaked out.
She laughed again. “It’s beautiful, right?”
The stormy seas were beautiful, like she’d said, especially with the clouds seeming to blur into the waves. But that beauty could turn deadly in a second. I knew it for a fact, because I lived on the sea for a good portion of my daily life.
She tucked her arm through mine. “I’ll keep you safe.”
And then it was my turn to laugh. This little tiny thing next to me, offering to keep me safe. As if she really did have her own superpowers. As if she was Cat Woman, or Black Widow, or that damned Glasswing she idolized and could deliver me from a fall, unscathed.
Except, I’d already fallen. Hard. For her. For my wife.
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DAMAGED DESIRES is Nash and Dani’s brother’s-best-friend, military romance with a suspense angle you might not want to miss! https://amzn.to/2Ikz8HC
Here’s a little teaser for you:
“Kiss me,” she said, another dare. Her eyes held mine. The challenge laid out.
I bit back another groan. Trying not to touch her. My fingers clenched into fists on either side of her on the table. Not moving. I could sit in the same position for hours―days―if I needed to.
“No,” I said, holding her gaze.
“No?” she breathed out. The shock on her face made my lips quirk, releasing some of the tension in my body.
“Has any guy ever said no to you, Athena?”
“Yes,” she said quietly before her chin raised and her eyes flared back to life. “You want to.”
I did. I wanted to bite that pink lip and punish her for punishing me. Torture her with kisses and fingers until she begged rather than dared.
“I do. But kissing you wouldn’t stop at kissing.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s kind of the point here.” She waved a finger between us.
“I can’t,” I told her, my voice thick with desire and regret. “Because I can’t offer you more than a night. An amazing, sweaty, gods screaming hot night, but still only one night. And Mac would kick my ass.”
“My brother has nothing to do with this. I’m a grown woman. I know what I want, and it definitely isn’t more than one night.”
Refusing her felt like ringing the bell and walking away, and that wasn’t me. But I also knew if I accepted her challenge, I’d end up exactly what they called me, Nash the Ass. Nasty Ass Shitty Human.
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This book has seven stories with their own sets of heroines and heroes who spawned from four full-length novels, so let’s just say there are A LOT of characters. If you ever get confused on who they are or how they tie together, the family tree should help, but if you still need more information, here’s a “Who’s Who” of sorts to help you out.
Blake Abbott – five years older than Cam, he helped her realize how she could love again in My Life as a Country Album. He’s an entertainment lawyer who helps find bands their start, like one Brady O’Neil from the Anchor series. He waited patiently for Cam to marry him and had two kids with her, Mayson and Khiley.
Brett Davies – an Air Force pilot cadet who just graduated from University of Tennessee, Knoxville where he met Eliza Davies, the daughter of Mia and Derek from My Life as a Pop Album.
Cam Swayne Abbott – the character who started the whole series in My Life as a Country Album. She was a diving queen and in love with the boy next door. Now, she helps people find their way with their diabetes diagnosis, is married to hot entertainment lawyer Blake Abbott, and has two kids, Mayson and Khiley.
Coach Walter Crandall – Ty Waters’ coach at University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Maleena Crandall’s father.
Cole Hensley – the son of Justice and Liv Hensley from My Life as a Rock Album. He grew up with his cousin, Grace, and they have a relationship that is m
ore like siblings than cousins. He is starting a movie production company with Grace and Mayson Abbott, but he also loves to travel the world.
Dalton Abbott – the son of Matt Abbott from My Life as a Country Album, who was Cam’s first boyfriend, and the brother to the eventual love of her life, Blake. He is cousins with Khiley and Mayson, and is a rodeo champion.
Derek Waters – the Johnny-Cash-obsessed lead singer and songwriter for the platinum-charting band Watery Reflection. He pushed Mia out of her shell enough to see that she deserved happiness and love. Now, he shows her that love every day while also supporting the dreams of all the Abbott/Waters/Brennan kids. He has three children with Mia: the twins, Ginny and Ty, and the baby, Eliza.
Edie Brennan – the little darling of My Life as a Mixtape, she grew up and out of her capes and ballerina shoes to run a library. She’s the daughter of Lonnie and Wynn from My Life as a Mixtape, was the first of the children to get married, and is the first to be having a grandchild to the original gang. Her husband, Garrett Drummond, owns a whiskey distillery in Scotland that’s been in his family for generations.
Eliza Waters – the baby of the Album Series group and the daughter of Mia and Derek from My Life as a Pop Album, she’s had to deal with being the last of the “famous” people who came before her, and it hasn’t always been a picnic. She is determined not to spend another moment without the man she loves.
Garrett Drummond – the husband of Edie Brennan Drummond, which makes Lonnie and Wynn from My Life as a Mixtape his in-laws. He runs a whiskey distillery in Scotland that has been in his family for generations.
Ginny Waters – the daughter of Mia and Derek from My Life as a Pop Album, she’s a junior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and is the one everyone in the family counts on to fill in the missing parts and pieces. She picks everyone up and makes sure they get what they want, all while hiding her secret longings deep inside her. If anyone in her family knew the things she’d accomplished on her bucket list, they might not see her in the same light. She has a twin brother, Ty.
Grace Carmen – the daughter of Seth and PJ from My Life as a Rock Album, she is starting a movie production company with her cousin, Cole, and Mayson Abbott. She’s fiery and fierce and not easily swayed, just like her intense father.
Jake Phillips – the boy who Cam first loved in My Life as a Country Album, who lost his life after finally realizing his love for Cam. He was a football god and a perfect Southern white knight. The town named a stadium after him and still feels the loss he left behind.
Justice Hensley – the brother of PJ from My Life as a Rock Album. He owns a Ninja Warrior training facility with the love of his life, Liv. They have one son, Cole.
Khiley Abbott - the daughter of Cam and Blake Abbott from My Life as a Country Album, she grew up with the love of her life, Stephen Brennan, who is the son of Lonnie and Wynn from My Life as a Mixtape. She and Stephen are one semester away from graduating from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville when they are hit with a life surprise.
Lita Brennan – Edie’s biological mom who battled mental health and addiction issues and left Edie to the care of her twin brother, Lonnie.
Liv Hensley - PJ’s sister-in-law from My Life as a Rock Album. She owns a Ninja Warrior training facility with the love of her life, Justice. They have one son, Cole.
Lonnie Brennan – the bassist for Derek Waters’ band, Watery Reflection, and a semi-professional photographer/graphic artist. He got his own happily ever after in My Life as a Mixtape when he inherited his niece, Edie, from the wreckage of his sister’s life and found his forever love in Wynn Nichols, who is Cam and Mia’s best friend. In addition to adopting his niece, Edie, he has a son with Wynn, Stephen.
Maleena Crandall – the daughter of Ty Waters’ football coach at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, she’s grown up with football on her brain. She helps out with the team and wants to live and breathe football for the rest of her life.
Margery Drummond – the grandmother of Garrett Drummond and the woman who’s been in charge of their whiskey distillery for decades.
Marina Phillips – Jake and Mia’s mama and Cam’s almost mother-in-law. All the family’s kids see her as their grandmother, whether she really is or not. She’s the family secret keeper, and her home is where the kids meet regularly.
Matt Abbott – the brother of Blake Abbott from My Life as a Country Album, he was Cam’s first boyfriend before Jake realized his stupidity and way, way before Blake ran into her again in Nashville.
Mayson Abbott – the son of Cam and Blake Abbott from My Life as a Country Album, he flew from the Tennessee lifestyle to go to the University of California, Los Angeles, where he made a deep connection with his best friend, Cole, and Cole’s cousin, Grace, who are both kids from the My Life as a Rock Album family. Mayson makes musicals with Grace and Cole but left them behind to bail out Derek when one of the Watery Reflection band members had a heart attack, so he spent six months touring with the band.
Mia Phillips Waters – the bookworm who runs a car dealership and went on a shocking road trip with Derek Waters across the country in My Life as a Pop Album. She spends her time reading books in the studio while Derek continues to make music, at the dealership, and baking for her three kids: the twins, Ginny and Ty, and the baby, Eliza.
PJ Hensley Carmen – the blogger-turned-art-manager who fell in love with the intensity of Seth Carmen and then ran before realizing that broken could be beautiful in My Life as a Rock Album. She still helps out at her brother, Justice’s, Ninja Warrior training gym. She has one child, her daughter, Grace, but treats her nephew, Cole, like a second child whenever they’re all together.
Reese – the Abbott family’s horse trainer on the ranch and grew up with Dalton.
Seth Carmen – the anti-hero who was the villain in My Life as a Country Album but got his redemption in My Life as a Rock Album. He’s a trash artist, recovering alcoholic, and insanely in love with his wife, PJ, and their baby girl, Grace…or Gracie-Lou, as Cam dubbed her.
Stephen Brennan – the son of Lonnie and Wynn from My Life as a Mixtape, he grew up with the love of his life, Khiley Abbott, who is the daughter of Cam and Blake Abbott from My Life as a Country Album. He and Khiley are one semester away from graduating from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville when they are hit with a life surprise.
Ty (Tiras) Waters – the son of Mia and Derek from My Life as a Pop Album, he is like the second coming of his dead uncle, Jake. He looks like Jake, and plays football like Jake, but has an ego that Jake never wore. He’s ready to move from college to professional football and just needs to have the love of his life agree to go with him. He has a twin sister, Ginny.
Watery Reflection Band Members – Eli Tate (drummer), Owen Trinity (electric / acoustic guitar), Mitch Clive (keyboards), Lonnie Brennan (bass), Derek Waters (singer, songwriter, plays everything)
Wynn Nichols Brennan – the best friend to Cam and Mia in their stories, My Life as a Country Album and My Life as a Pop Album. Her life falls apart in My Life as a Mixtape and finds a beautiful new beginning while helping Lonnie with his niece, Edie. In addition to adopting Lonnie’s niece, Edie, she has a son with Lonnie, Stephen.
Thanks again for reading My Life as a Holiday Album. At the beginning of the book—if you even saw it—I told you I didn’t want to fill your head with my social media sites, places to leave reviews, and other books because I wanted you to read the story and then decide how you felt about me and my words. I hope you loved the six HEA stories I wove for you here. I hope the strength and resiliency of the characters, along with my mix of lyrics and story, burned a memory into your soul that you will think of every time you hear one of the songs from now on.
We talk about music, books, and just what it takes to get us through this wild ride called life a lot in my Facebook reader’s group, LJ’s Music & Stories. If you do nothing else with the links here, I hope you join that group. I hope that we can he
lp YOU through your life in some small way.
Regardless if you join or not, I’d love for you to tell me what you thought of my holiday shorts by reaching out to me personally. I’d be honored if you took the time to leave a review on BookBub, Amazon, and / or Goodreads, but even more than that, I hope you enjoyed it enough to tell a friend about it.
If you still can’t get enough (ha!), you could also sign up for my newsletter so you’ll be able to keep tabs on my stories as I write them. Not only will you get random scenes I write inspired by music, but you’ll also be entered into a giveaway each month for a chance at a signed paperback by yours truly