Welcome to The Wormhole and my stop on the tour.
It is my pleasure to feature Roni Loren and Need You Tonight.
Author
Bio:
Roni wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she
discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them.
Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her
storytelling ability has. Though she’ll forever be a New Orleans girl at
heart, she now lives in Dallas with her husband and son.
If she’s not working on her latest sexy story, you can find
her reading, watching reality television, or indulging in her unhealthy
addiction to rockstars, er, rock concerts. Yeah, that's it. She is the National
Bestselling Author of The Loving on the Edge series from
Berkley Heat.
Places to find Roni
Loren:
She’s
making a wish list, and he wants to be on top.
From foster kid to trophy wife, Tessa McAllen is about to reinvent herself all
over again—and defy every insult her cheating ex-husband ever used against her:
Selfish? She’s championing a charity. Stupid? She’s getting her degree.
Boring in bed?
Kade Vandergriff can help her with that one. When they encounter each other at
a singles event held at one of his restaurants, Tessa blurts out that kink is
for girls who try too hard, and Kade instantly wants to show this sassy
stranger how thrilling a night under his command can be…...but when he learns
her name, the game changes for both of them.
In high school, Tessa was the popular girl who stuttering, awkward Kade fell
for. But she chose another. Now, as she eagerly learns lesson after lesson,
he’s going to make sure she never forgets him again.
Purchase links:
Excerpt:
(Tessa’s
best friend has tricked her into coming to a dating event.)
Jim was scanning his list again, and Tessa
smoothed the front of her dress. She hadn’t thought to put much effort into her
outfit tonight. This was supposed to be a cooking class after all. So she’d
stayed in the pale pink blouse and black skirt she’d worn to work. But now she
felt plain and out of place. Everyone else had put on their A-game ensemble for
date night.
God, why was she even worrying about it? This isn’t a real date. She’d been
trained by Doug to look her best at all times because you never knew who you’d
run into, and sometimes that old urge was hard to shake. But she wasn’t here to
impress anyone. She was here to drink sangria and to learn how to cook. That’s
it.
The door opened behind her as more people came
in.
“Ms. McAllen?” Jim asked, a small frown curving
his thin lips as he lifted his gaze from the clipboard. “Do you have your
confirmation number with you? You’re not showing on my list.”
“My what?” She automatically put her hand on her
purse but knew she had nothing of the sort in there. “No. My friend set all
this up for us both.”
“Hmm.” Jim tapped his pencil on the clipboard.
“Well, I’m not showing you on here, which means we don’t have confirmation of
your payment. If you’d like to pay the fee now, we can let you stay for the
class. Then if you find your confirmation, we’ll refund you. But since you
weren’t on the list, we won’t have a match set up for you. You’d be staying for
the cooking portion only unless we have any other walk-ins.”
No match? That sounded like a fantastic idea.
She’d never been so happy to be left off a guest list. “How much is it?”
“Two-hundred dollars.”
A gasp escaped her lips. Two hundred dollars? She should’ve expected it at a place like
this, but the number still caught her off guard. And it was a number she
couldn’t fund. “I’m sorry. I’ll have to find out what happened to my original
fee and do this another time. Maybe I can talk to my friend and see if she has
the information.”
He smiled kindly, but she saw the instant
dismissal in his eyes. He knew she was bailing because she didn’t have the
money. He knew she didn’t belong there. “Of course.”
Shame tried to edge in, heating her cheeks. But
she swallowed it back. She would not get teary over missing some stupid cooking
class. She took a step to head toward Sam’s table, hoping that even though they
were technically party crashers, her friend had some magical confirmation
number. But before she could move forward, a warm hand touched her elbow.
“I’ll cover the fee.”
She stiffened at the touch, but the rich timbre
of the man’s voice rolled over Tessa like sun-heated ocean water, making her
want to close her eyes and soak in it, stay there a while. She turned around,
her gaze going up, up, up, and finally colliding with clear blue eyes, a face
made for Greek sculpture, and lips…God, his lips. She couldn’t imagine those
had ever been used for anything but sex and sin.
She wanted to bite them.
As that image flitted through her mind, any shot
she had at a normal, polite response evaporated into mist.
“I’d hate for you to miss one of the best meals
of your life because of a computer glitch,” the man said with a ghost of a
smile.
Tessa simply stared back like she hadn’t
understood the language he spoke. The way he held her gaze had her thoughts
scattering and her brain reaching for some memory she couldn’t quite grab ahold
of. She shook her head, breaking the gaze and trying to clear her head. No. Get
it together, Tessa. This stranger was offering to pay two-hundred dollars
for her to eat. She knew how that worked. She’d played that game before.
“Really, that’s very kind of you to offer. But I’ll just come back another
time.”
He pulled his wallet from his pocket, pulled two
crisp bills from it, and handed it to Jim. “I insist. And it’s no problem. I’m
sure they’ll pay me back when they find your original reservation.”
Tessa shook her head again, even though her mind
was already fast-forwarding and picturing how decadent it would be to sit and
sip sangrias with this stranger. But she couldn’t fall into her old habits and
let him pay her way. It didn’t matter that he was gorgeous or that he didn’t
seem to mind or that he was wearing a watch that said two-hundred dollars was
insignificant for him. “I’m sorry. I can’t take your money.”
Before the stranger could protest, she moved
past him and the few people waiting behind them to head for the door. She
needed to get out—now. She knew it was ridiculous, but she had the sudden urge
to cry, to scream, to pound on something. All she’d wanted tonight was to relax
and have a fun girl’s night with Sam. Instead, she’d been reminded of the life
she used to have, how feeble her bank account was now, and how fucked up she was
when it came to men.
She moved through the hallway that led back to
the main dining room in a rush, hoping to reach the parking lot before the
tears broke free, but a hand touched her shoulder. “Hey, hold up.”
The quiet command of his voice and the
gentleness of the touch had her slowing her step before she could think better
of it. She closed her eyes, took a breath, and turned around, speech prepared.
But when she saw the genuine concern on his face, her words got stuck in her
throat.
He tucked his hands in his pockets, the move
pulling his black dress shirt snug across what looked to be long, lean muscles
beneath. His eyes scanned hers. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to chase you off.”
She put her hand to her too hot forehead, trying
to catch her breath and center herself. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t you. I’m fine.
This night just isn’t working out like I thought it would.”
“Expected to meet your perfect match?”
She made a sound that was some mixture of a
snort, a sob, and a laugh. “Ha. Hardly. What a joke that is. A perfect match.”
His mouth lifted at the corner, his blue eyes
dancing in the flickering light of the wall sconces. “Come on, you don’t think
there’s the perfect someone out there for everyone? Someone who’s meant to fit
only with you? All the movies say so.”
“Movies sell us a bill of goods,” she said
flatly. All that mystical aligning of stars was such bullshit. People got into
relationships for what it could do for them. When the benefit ran out, they
moved on. She’d seen that proven over and over again.
“Uh-huh,” he said, his tone teasing. “So you’re
telling me you paid two-hundred dollars to attend something you don’t buy
into?”
“I didn’t pay,” she admitted. “A friend told me
she’d get me on the list. And I—I wanted to learn to cook and to taste the
food.”
He glanced back at the closed door and chuckled.
“Ooh, a party crasher. How scandalous.”
His low laugh was like a gust of summer air
across her nerve endings, reminding her of someone long ago. Someone she hadn’t
had to be a chameleon for. She found herself smiling, her dour mood lifting.
“That’s me. A scandal a minute. And now I’m causing more. I’m sure your perfect
match date is anxiously awaiting you inside.”
“Nah, I’m not sold on a perfect match, either.
But instant attraction…” He stepped closer and the air in the room thickened
and warmed. “That I subscribe to. So, Ms. Party Crasher, answer me one
question. Are you leaving because you were opposed to the money or me?”
She blinked, caught off guard by the question
and his nearness. “What?”
“You came here tonight to take a class and have
a nice meal. I was happy to help you do that. So, did you turn down my offer
because you think the money comes with strings or is because you’re opposed to
spending the evening with me?”
Giveaway Info:
·
1
eBook copy of the Riding Desire Box set
My thoughts:
This was a great read. The characters are fantastic, the storyline is wonderful and the setting is perfect.
I found myself applauding Tessa at the very beginning for leaving her cheating sack of a husband - completely invested in the characters from the start - and was hooked beyond hope after meeting "Van"at the cooking class. I love how Tessa works hard to rebuild her life and the honesty with which she goes about it. I enjoyed the past/present connections between the characters, even though it all wasn't positive. This story brings home the idea that you can be more than what others believe you can be.
Emotionally charged and filled with passion, this story is a steamy ride.
