SPOTLIGHT w/GUEST POST - Ruin by L.M. Pruitt

Ruin

by L.M. Pruitt

Release Date: May 31^st 2017

I can resist everything except temptation—Oscar Wilde

BLURB

But what happens when temptation is everywhere?

Cam is tempting to me toward the darkness.

Barry is tempting me toward the light.

And I want them both. I want it all.

Temptation will be my salvation. Or my ruin.

“Is it done?” Cam strapped the saddle bags he’d somehow managed to stuff all my clothes in to the little bike—not quite a motorcycle but bigger and less dorky than a scooter. When I didn’t answer right away, he stepped over to me, grabbing my face in his hands and squeezing. “Coniglietto. Is it done? Did you take care of her?”

“Yes.” Even to my own ears my voice sounded dull and lifeless. Considering the fact I felt high as fucking kite, I could only assume it was shock. “I took care of her.”

Not in the way he meant, not exactly, but I’d taken care of her the best way I knew how.

I’d done a lot of horrible things, on purpose and accident, and I had no doubt I would do more horrible things still. But I’d be damned even more than I already was before I actually killed my sister.

“Good girl.” Cam pressed a quick, hard kiss to my forehead before steering me toward the bike. “I have little doubt the archangels will be here soon—so we shouldn’t be.”

“Where are we going?” It didn’t matter. I had, for all intents and purposes, hooked my wagon to his. If anyone threw doubt on my commitment to the so-called cause, all Cam would have to do was point out what I’d done to Joanne. Sure, there might be trouble when it came out she wasn’t actually dead but it could all be explained away as yet another newbie mistake.

After all, they taught us how to not kill people. Not the opposite.

“I’m thinking Prague.” He settled himself on the bike, gesturing for me to do the same. He handed me a helmet, his lips curving upward when I stared at it blankly. “Safety, little rabbit. And a disguise. It’s safer for us to blend in at the moment.”

“Right.” My hands felt thick and clumsy as I struggled to strap on the protective headgear and I cursed under my breath when Cam finally took pity on me and did it himself. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Change is hard, little rabbit.” He brushed his lips over mine before flicking the tip of my nose. “Now, let’s go take over the world, hmm?”

 

Finding Your Happy Place

Let’s get real for a moment—sometimes, the world sucks.

Shocking, I know.

Sometimes the world sucks and things are definitely not pretty and you’re just tired of… well, everything. And it’s totally okay to wallow in those moments. It gets exhausting always being “on”, even more so if you’re introverted or have social anxiety or just don’t like people. Still, there comes a point when you need to go back out and face the world. It’s always easier when you have a few things to keep you happy.

For me, those things are red lipstick, Chinese food, and romantic comedies.

Actually, looking at that list it seems as if I’m setting myself up to star as the heroine in a romantic comedy. I’m really more of the quirky sidekick but that’s a nice segue in to my first point. There’s something about watching romantic comedies which helps lift me out of a funk. It’s not foolproof and it has to be the right kind of comedy but it’s hard to stay completely sad when you’re watching Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey banter back and forth for ninety odd minutes.

Next on the list is Chinese food. I have no shame in saying one of my favorite places to eat is local buffet which serves what most people would consider Americanized Chinese food. I don’t care. They always have green beans and spring rolls and cookies and cream ice cream. It’s simple and simplistic and makes me happy after a long shift at the day job.

Finally, red lipstick. To be fair, I’m one of those people who tend to be in a better mood simply by putting makeup on, even if it’s only mascara and powder. But there’s something about red lipstick specifically which makes me feel as if I can take on the world and win. Maybe it’s the fact that red is associated with power or maybe it’s the fact I look good in red lipstick. Whatever the reason, it gives me that extra boost of oomph to get out there and conquer everything and everyone.

Happy place things are important, even if it’s something as simple as red lipstick. We can all use a bit more happy in the world these days.

Author Info

L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She knows this because she's killed bamboo. Twice.  She is the author of the Winged series, the Plaisir Coupable series, Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series, and Taken: A Frankie Post Novel.

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SPOTLIGHT w/GUEST POST - Wicked: A Damned Novel by LM Pruitt

Wicked

A Damned Novel

by LM Pruitt

Release Date: April 2017

All things truly wicked start from innocence.

—Ernest Hemingway

BLURB

Being a demon isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Especially when you make a massive mistake your first month on the job.

Even more so when your sister is one of the all-star players on the other team.

Add in the rumors of not one but two coups and it’s not hard to see—something wicked this way comes….

Author Info

L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She knows this because she's killed bamboo. Twice.  She is the author of the Winged series, the Plaisir Coupable series, Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series, and Taken: A Frankie Post Novel.

Comfort in the Form of Food

As I’m writing this, I’m already thinking about what I’m going to have for dinner. And for a snack.

No, that’s not a joke. I’ve got about five hours before I eat dinner and I’m hungry right now so as soon as I finish this post I’m getting a snack of some kind. I don’t know what but it’s going to happen. This might be the reason why this post is going to be about comfort food, new and old.

My absolute favorite go-to comfort food is potato salad. After the kind of day at work which you would think only happens in movies, I will literally make an entire meal out of potato salad. There have been times when, knowing how bad my day was, my mother has called me and offered to make it for me. There was one Christmas where I honest to God refused to eat anything because someone had eaten all the potato salad and that was the only thing I wanted.

So the takeaway from this—besides the fact I’m a little bratty about food—is that I really, really love potato salad.

Now, if I’m only having a moderately bad day or if I’m rewarding myself for completing a project, I’ll head straight for the Chinese buffet. Specifically, for the garlic green beans. I swear, I could easily eat a pound of them. I’m pretty sure the people who run the buffet think I’m the weirdest customer but I don’t care. I love those green beans almost as much as I love potato salad.

My other great love is ice cream. Seriously. I will eat ice cream in the dead of winter, huddling under a blanket with two layers of socks on my feet. I’ve been known to leave the bar and go downstairs to the ice cream shop, order two scoops, and take it back up to the bar. It’s honestly not as strange as it sounds but even if it was, I’d still do it. I really, really like ice cream.

What are some of your go-to comfort foods?

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SPOTLIGHT - Barry (Winged, #14) by L.M. Pruitt

Barry

Winged, #14

by L.M. Pruitt

Publication Date: January 14^th 2017

Publisher: SP Press

A standalone novel in the world of the international bestselling WINGED series... a glimpse in to one man's past....

BLURB

It was supposed to be a simple dinner. The repayment of a debt.

I should have known Lilith would find a way to make things difficult.

Three favors. Three stories of lovers past. As Lilith said, an easy task.

I remember them all.

WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE AND GRAPHIC SEX SCENES. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

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I leaned back, unfolding my napkin and draping it over my lap. “So, what sort of delicacy is on the menu this evening?”

“Oh, who knows. I leave those sort of things to the kitchen.” Lilith waved a hand absently, brushing the question aside as if it was no more than a fly. “It’s time for you to pay your debt.”

“And I’m here.”

“Baraquel.” Her smile was the sort usually reserved for cute animals and slow adults. “Did you really think a simple dinner would be all the repayment I required?”

“Not really but I was foolish enough to hope.” Sighing, I pulled a cigar from my coat pocket and examined the tip. “How, then, am I supposed to repay you?”

“Three favors, correct?” Her smile grew when I nodded. “Wonderful. Three stories, then.”

“I beg your pardon?” I winced, shaking my head as she laughed. “Remind me to limit my time around Joanne. I’m picking up too many of her verbal ticks for my liking.”

“If it helps, think of this as more of a series of lectures on the right and wrong way to conduct relationships.” She propped her elbows on the table, steepling her fingers as she stared at me with the sort of fascination I’d seen on cats in the instant before they pounced. “After all, you have so much advice to offer. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.”

“My personal life is my own.” I set the cigar down, hating the stiffness in my voice and yet unable to do anything to correct it. “You’ve known me long enough to know that.”

“And I’m not asking for a rundown of every person you’ve fucked in the last few millennia.” Her smile widened, the edges turning cruel. “Besides, even if I did, I doubt you could provide one.”

“I remember.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.” I clenched my fist in my lap. “I remember them all.”

“Good.” She tapped her fingers on her lower lip. “Then tell me a story.”

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Author Info

L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She knows this because she's killed bamboo. Twice.  She is the author of the Winged series, the Plaisir Coupable series, Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series, and Taken: A Frankie Post Novel.

Author Links:

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SPOTLIGHT - Damned by L.M. Pruitt

Damned

by LM Pruitt

Release Date February 15

From the writer of the international bestselling WINGED series comes a look at the other side... where it's good to be bad....

BLURB

I was thirty years old when I chose to die--or rather to give up my soul.

Eternal youth, endless money... and sex.

Mind blowing, life changing, otherworldly sex.

For all those things, being damned is a small price to pay.

WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE AND EXTREMELY GRAPHIC SEX SCENES. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

“I’m Lacey Jackson.” She stuck out one hand, something in her eyes daring me to not take it. “And you are…?”

“Julie Watson.” I took her hand, making my reluctance more than obvious. The second my skin made contact with hers, a spark of energy shot through me so violently I couldn’t help but gasp. Swallowing, I said, “What brings you to Savannah?”

“Oh, I’m here for work.” Without releasing my hand, she slipped out of her seat and slid in to the one across from me. Leaning in, she lowered her voice and said, “I was fully prepared for it to be another dull, routine trip but now… well, now I think I’m glad I got assigned this route.”

“Oh.” The low fluttering in my stomach wasn’t unfamiliar—I was far from a virgin and I’d not only done Mardi Gras and Spring Break in Miami but I’d also spent a month in Europe after my college graduation. But this… this was something different. And not because it was caused by a woman.

This was… raw. Visceral. Almost feral. Like she’d tapped in to some hunger I wasn’t even aware I’d had and now that I did the idea it would go unfulfilled was almost too much to bear.

“You should come work with me.” She lifted our joined hands, brushing her lips over my knuckles. “I have a feeling you would be… amazing.”

“What?” It was as if all my attention was focused on the small bit of skin where she’d kissed me, tendrils of lust spooling out through the rest of my body in lazy ribbons. “What do you… what do you do?”

“I collect souls.” Her eyes darkened, her breath catching in her throat and I realized for the first time I wasn’t the only one affected by our contact. “Or rather the energy from them. The actual soul is taken up by someone else—it doesn’t matter, the details can be explained later.”

“You collect….” I trailed off, part of me sure she was joking and an even larger part of me sure she wasn’t. “Really. Why?”

“Because I can.” She flicked her tongue over her lips and I sucked in a shallow breath. “Because it’s fun.”

“But that would make you….”

“A demon, yes.” This time when she smiled, a dimple appeared in her left cheek and I was caught with the sudden urge to kiss it. “More specifically a succubus.” My confusion must have shown because she laughed. “I fuck people for their energy—sometimes to death, sometimes not. It all depends.”

“And you want to do that to me?”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head, her hair sliding across her shoulders, the tips curling over the swell of her breasts. “I told you. I want you to work with me and my sisters and Lilith.” She leaned closer and I breathed deep, the scent of her perfume almost painfully exotic. “I want you to join the ranks of the Morning Star and spend eternity tempting the weak and the wicked.”

What she was suggesting was lunacy. Madness. Even if I believed her, the idea of giving up my life to be some sort of demonic minion was ridiculous. Although….

What would I be giving up? A lifetime spent catering to David’s whims, denying myself the things I truly enjoyed because it would be bad for his reputation or his political chances or his weight? A lifetime attempting to please my parents and knowing it would never happen because nothing would ever overshadow Joanne’s sacrifice? A lifetime being nothing but the substitute?

What, exactly, would I be giving up?

“Jules.” The nickname I hated hearing from David sounded and felt like a caress coming from Lacey. Lifting our hands again, she ran her tongue over one of my fingertips before nipping lightly. Her voice was heavy with promise when she spoke again. “Come play with me.”

“Yes.” I breathed out the single word before leaning over the table and crushing my mouth to hers.

Who needed a soul anyway?

Author Info

L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She knows this because she's killed bamboo. Twice.  She is the author of the Winged series, the Plaisir Coupable series, Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series, and Taken: A Frankie Post Novel.

Author Links:

Website  Facebook  Twitter

Amazon   Goodreads

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