We're thrilled to share an exclusive excerpt from The Lie by New York Times best-selling author Karina Halle, a highly anticipated contemporary romance stand-alone that releases on February 15th. Click here to pre-order at the reduced price of only $0.99.
We're celebrating the upcoming release with an excerpt that is so steamy it even made us blush. ;) Plus enter to enter a signed paperback! Happy reading and good luck!
We're celebrating the upcoming release with an excerpt that is so steamy it even made us blush. ;) Plus enter to enter a signed paperback! Happy reading and good luck!
Sizzling Excerpt
Max gives us our drinks and then shoots me a not-so-sly wink before heading down the bar to help someone else.
“He seems nice,” Natasha says. “You know, for someone that looks like he was the tour manager for Pink Floyd.”
I laugh. “You’ve been reading my mind today, haven’t you?”
She raises her head appraising me. “Have I? What else have you been thinking about other than the bartender?”
I grin at her, wiggling my jaw back and forth. “Do you want the truth?”
She adjusts herself on the stool to face me more squarely and puts her hand on my knee. “Always,” she says with smiling eyes.
I lean in closer, staring at her collarbones. I lower my voice. “I’ve been thinking about what it was like to fuck you. I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do to you tonight.”
I wait a moment and then look up. She’s staring at me with a hyper-sexual mix of lust and innocence. Her lips part.
“Just that,” I whisper to her. “Just your fucking lips dropping open and I think about all the places you could put them.”
Her cheeks are flushed now, eyes glistening. She blinks at me and then takes a long gulp of her drink. I know I’m being too forward but I can only be honest with her, even if it shocks her. The fact is, I want to shock her. I want to see this side of her with the shy eyes and the pink cheeks. I want to go expose her to a part of me she might not recognize.
“Well then,” she says when she recovers, quickly brushing her hair behind her ears. She smiles and looks around the bar. “That was unexpected.”
“Even after this afternoon?” I ask, reaching out and feeling the silk of her hair between my fingers, tugging on it gently. I wonder if she’d like to have her hair pulled later.
“I guess not,” she says, her voice becoming huskier. She meets my eyes and chews on her lip. “So is this this bar just a place to have foreplay?”
I smile. “It can be. I wasn’t sure how you felt after today so I wanted to make it neutral. You know, in case you wanted to run for the hills.”
She gives her head a small shake. “I’m not running anymore.” She picks up her drink and slams back half of it while darting her eyes at my beer. “Drink up,” she says when she’s finished.
“Trying to get me drunk?” I joke but I drink the rest of it down easily.
“Trying to get us out of here,” she says, hoping off the stool.
I raise my brows. I wasn’t expecting her to be this eager and I can’t pretend it’s not the biggest fucking turn-on.
I quickly put a few notes on the bar – plus some extra for Max’s sage advice – and we go. I’ve never been so thankful to have my place just across from the bar. We’re barely on the other side of the road before I’m attacking her, pressing her up against the bricks while my hands fumble for the keys in my jacket pocket.
Her neck tastes like cream, her smell sweet and heady and even when I do latch onto the key fob, it takes everything I have to pull my lips away from her, to do something else but revel in the taste of her.
Eventually we do get upstairs and into the flat. Winter is bounding toward us but neither Natasha nor I can even greet him hello. I kick the door shut with my foot, my lips unable to pull away from hers as we move backward into the room. Our clothes are quickly discarded. My jacket thrown across the room, landing on Winter, her shirt pulled over her head. My hands slip down the front of her jeans, desperate for her cunt as her hands try and undo my zipper.
We don’t make it to the bedroom. We thump hard against the bookcase, books falling off the shelf. I’m ripping her bra down, my mouth going for her luscious breast as my pants drop to the floor. Winter is running around us howling and I’m a terrible dog-father because I couldn’t care about anything right now except for Natasha.
But even as I’m taking her nipple into my mouth, nipping it between my teeth until she’s gasping and holding me by the back of my beck, I know I can’t do a thing to her until the dog is taken care of. Dogs are simultaneous chick magnets and cock blockers.
I break away, taking off my shirt so I’m just in my boxer briefs and usher Winter into the bedroom, closing the door on him. He can do less damage in there.
He barks, I’m sure a dozen swears in dog-language that only Lachlan or Tarzan knows. Tonight I couldn’t care if he barked non-stop. My heart is beating too loudly in my ears to hear him.
“Is he okay in there?” she asks but I kiss her before she can go on, helping her be rid of her jeans until the two of us are just in our underwear. She’s wearing these white cotton knickers that would drive any man crazy.
I grab her arms and move with her backward over to the couch where I push her down on it, her breasts jiggling as she falls back on the cushions.
“Fuck me,” I mutter, taking my dick out and giving it a long hard stroke as I stare down at her. She stares up at me with wide, nervous eyes, lips parted, her golden hair across her face. Her nipples are hard, tiny pink peaks against the fullness of her breasts. Her torso leads smoothly to her hips and thighs that just beg for me to dig my teeth into.
Then there’s that sweet pink flash of her cunt.
“I’ll do more than that,” she says, pivoting around so she’s on all fours on the couch, prowling toward me. “I didn’t forget what you said about my lips.”
Fuck, I’m lucky.
No. Lucky is an understatement.
“He seems nice,” Natasha says. “You know, for someone that looks like he was the tour manager for Pink Floyd.”
I laugh. “You’ve been reading my mind today, haven’t you?”
She raises her head appraising me. “Have I? What else have you been thinking about other than the bartender?”
I grin at her, wiggling my jaw back and forth. “Do you want the truth?”
She adjusts herself on the stool to face me more squarely and puts her hand on my knee. “Always,” she says with smiling eyes.
I lean in closer, staring at her collarbones. I lower my voice. “I’ve been thinking about what it was like to fuck you. I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do to you tonight.”
I wait a moment and then look up. She’s staring at me with a hyper-sexual mix of lust and innocence. Her lips part.
“Just that,” I whisper to her. “Just your fucking lips dropping open and I think about all the places you could put them.”
Her cheeks are flushed now, eyes glistening. She blinks at me and then takes a long gulp of her drink. I know I’m being too forward but I can only be honest with her, even if it shocks her. The fact is, I want to shock her. I want to see this side of her with the shy eyes and the pink cheeks. I want to go expose her to a part of me she might not recognize.
“Well then,” she says when she recovers, quickly brushing her hair behind her ears. She smiles and looks around the bar. “That was unexpected.”
“Even after this afternoon?” I ask, reaching out and feeling the silk of her hair between my fingers, tugging on it gently. I wonder if she’d like to have her hair pulled later.
“I guess not,” she says, her voice becoming huskier. She meets my eyes and chews on her lip. “So is this this bar just a place to have foreplay?”
I smile. “It can be. I wasn’t sure how you felt after today so I wanted to make it neutral. You know, in case you wanted to run for the hills.”
She gives her head a small shake. “I’m not running anymore.” She picks up her drink and slams back half of it while darting her eyes at my beer. “Drink up,” she says when she’s finished.
“Trying to get me drunk?” I joke but I drink the rest of it down easily.
“Trying to get us out of here,” she says, hoping off the stool.
I raise my brows. I wasn’t expecting her to be this eager and I can’t pretend it’s not the biggest fucking turn-on.
I quickly put a few notes on the bar – plus some extra for Max’s sage advice – and we go. I’ve never been so thankful to have my place just across from the bar. We’re barely on the other side of the road before I’m attacking her, pressing her up against the bricks while my hands fumble for the keys in my jacket pocket.
Her neck tastes like cream, her smell sweet and heady and even when I do latch onto the key fob, it takes everything I have to pull my lips away from her, to do something else but revel in the taste of her.
Eventually we do get upstairs and into the flat. Winter is bounding toward us but neither Natasha nor I can even greet him hello. I kick the door shut with my foot, my lips unable to pull away from hers as we move backward into the room. Our clothes are quickly discarded. My jacket thrown across the room, landing on Winter, her shirt pulled over her head. My hands slip down the front of her jeans, desperate for her cunt as her hands try and undo my zipper.
We don’t make it to the bedroom. We thump hard against the bookcase, books falling off the shelf. I’m ripping her bra down, my mouth going for her luscious breast as my pants drop to the floor. Winter is running around us howling and I’m a terrible dog-father because I couldn’t care about anything right now except for Natasha.
But even as I’m taking her nipple into my mouth, nipping it between my teeth until she’s gasping and holding me by the back of my beck, I know I can’t do a thing to her until the dog is taken care of. Dogs are simultaneous chick magnets and cock blockers.
I break away, taking off my shirt so I’m just in my boxer briefs and usher Winter into the bedroom, closing the door on him. He can do less damage in there.
He barks, I’m sure a dozen swears in dog-language that only Lachlan or Tarzan knows. Tonight I couldn’t care if he barked non-stop. My heart is beating too loudly in my ears to hear him.
“Is he okay in there?” she asks but I kiss her before she can go on, helping her be rid of her jeans until the two of us are just in our underwear. She’s wearing these white cotton knickers that would drive any man crazy.
I grab her arms and move with her backward over to the couch where I push her down on it, her breasts jiggling as she falls back on the cushions.
“Fuck me,” I mutter, taking my dick out and giving it a long hard stroke as I stare down at her. She stares up at me with wide, nervous eyes, lips parted, her golden hair across her face. Her nipples are hard, tiny pink peaks against the fullness of her breasts. Her torso leads smoothly to her hips and thighs that just beg for me to dig my teeth into.
Then there’s that sweet pink flash of her cunt.
“I’ll do more than that,” she says, pivoting around so she’s on all fours on the couch, prowling toward me. “I didn’t forget what you said about my lips.”
Fuck, I’m lucky.
No. Lucky is an understatement.
Synopsis and $0.99 Pre-order Link
Stand-alone Contemporary Romance
Their love led to a lie.
Their truth led to the end.
Scottish enigma Brigs McGregor is crawling out from the ashes. After losing his wife and son in a car accident - and, subsequently, his job - he's finally moving forward with his life, securing a prestigious teaching position at the University of London and starting a new chapter in the city. Slowly, but surely, he's pushing past the guilt and putting his tragic past behind him.
Until he sees her.
Natasha Trudeau once loved a man so much she thought she'd die without him. But their love was wrong, doomed from the start, and when their world crashed around them, Natasha was nearly buried in the rubble. It took years of moving on to forget him, and now that she's in London, she's ready to start over again.
Until she sees him.
Because some loves are too dangerous to ever rekindle.
And some loves are too powerful to ignore.
Can you ever have a second chance at a love that ruined you?
The Lie is a second-chance romance with a dark, forbidden twist.
Their truth led to the end.
Scottish enigma Brigs McGregor is crawling out from the ashes. After losing his wife and son in a car accident - and, subsequently, his job - he's finally moving forward with his life, securing a prestigious teaching position at the University of London and starting a new chapter in the city. Slowly, but surely, he's pushing past the guilt and putting his tragic past behind him.
Until he sees her.
Natasha Trudeau once loved a man so much she thought she'd die without him. But their love was wrong, doomed from the start, and when their world crashed around them, Natasha was nearly buried in the rubble. It took years of moving on to forget him, and now that she's in London, she's ready to start over again.
Until she sees him.
Because some loves are too dangerous to ever rekindle.
And some loves are too powerful to ignore.
Can you ever have a second chance at a love that ruined you?
The Lie is a second-chance romance with a dark, forbidden twist.
Author Bio
With her USA Today Bestselling The Artists Trilogy published by Grand Central Publishing, numerous foreign publication deals, and self-publishing success with her Experiment in Terror series, Vancouver-born Karina Halle is a true example of the term "Hybrid Author." Though her books showcase her love of all things dark, sexy and edgy, she's a closet romantic at heart and strives to give her characters a HEA...whenever possible.
Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she’s preparing for the zombie apocalypse with her fiancé and rescue pup.
Visit Karina Halle's TRSoR Author Page for a list of all her books and social media links.
Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she’s preparing for the zombie apocalypse with her fiancé and rescue pup.
Visit Karina Halle's TRSoR Author Page for a list of all her books and social media links.
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