COVER REVEAL - NA CONTEMPORARY - WALK THE LINE (Blood & Bone Legacy, #1) by Natalie Parker & Paula Dombrowiak

Walk the Line

Blood & Bone Legacy, #1

by Natalie Parker, Paula Dombrowiak

Publication date: April 22nd 2025

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

BLURB

It was supposed to be simple: Film the tour. Build my portfolio. And for Heavens sake, keep it in my pants.

Then I met Felix Krasinski.

The captivating and infuriatingly cocky frontman of Velvet Drift commands attention everywhere he goes—including mine. Am I proud of it? No. I’m supposed to be filming their perfromance, not fantasizing about his perfect abs. I’m determined to be taken seriously, and hooking up with the ridiculously hot rockstar is the fastest way to tank my credibility.

Felix is always in control, and I’m an impulsive rule-breaker. We don’t make sense. But we can’t seem to stay away from each other.

Because, between his uptight habits and annoyingly perfect jawline, there’s more to Felix than his stage presence and legendary last name. He’s protective, vulnerable, and gets me in a way no one else does.

But my career depends on keeping things professional, and his future hinges on staying laser-focused on his band’s success.

Every heated argument, every stolen kiss, makes me want to throw caution—and professionalism—to the wind.

One thing’s certain—this summer tour is about to get a lot more complicated than I bargained for.

Walk the Line is the first book in the Blood & Bone and Turn it Up second generation series crossover. Grab this new adult, angsty, forced proximity, steamy contemporary rockstar romance. Walk the Line can be read as a standalone.

Add to Goodreads

Pre-order

 

Author Info

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. She is a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys, and the tragically flawed. Music inspires her storytelling.

For more ways to learn about Paula and her books, check out her website: @www.pauladombrowiak.com
--

Natalie Parker resides in the Seattle area with her husband and two rugrats, but is originally a Michigan girl.

She always enjoyed writing and noticed she had a knack for it while earning her Psychology degree and has always been an avid reader, but never thought of becoming an author until one day there seemed to be a story to tell.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, reading, reading to her kids, drinking coffee, reading, occasional yardwork, reading, listening to music, reading and writing.

Stay tuned for more to come for your favorite characters of the Turn it Up series!

Presented by

BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - CONTEMPORARY - STATE OF THE UNION (Kingmaker, #3) by Paula Dombrowiak

State of Union

Kingmaker, #3

by Paula Dombrowiak

Publication date: September 10th 2024

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

BLURB

Our marriage could make or break us…

Letting go of billionaire playboy Darren Walker was the right thing to do.

My life as a former escort will only damage his campaign for congress, and I’m too scared to admit I’ve fallen in love with my fake husband.

Except when Darren finds me and refuses to let me go, I can’t run from my feelings any longer. It’s time I have the courage to confess that he isn’t my husband in name only. He’s my everything.

All Darren wants is to carve out a future for himself while honoring his father’s legacy. But can I truly be the politician’s wife my husband needs when there are those who will use me to derail his campaign?

It doesn’t matter how much we love each other, I can’t change my past.

But we have no way of knowing that he has shocking family secrets that are yet to be revealed. Secrets bigger than me and powerful enough to destroy him.

And his enemies won’t stop until they’ve left him—and our marriage—in ruins…

The Kingmaker trilogy is a steamy, marriage of convenience, romance, in a political setting. State of Union is the final book in the trilogy with a guaranteed HEA. The books must be read in order, for the best reader experience.

Goodreads

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT:

The small bell at the top of the door jingles, a leftover from the hardware store that used to occupy this space. In walks Ethel Jackson, her crocheted handbag tucked under her arm. She looks around the space approvingly, her eyes finally meeting mine.

“Looks like a bunch of pomp and circumstance to me,” she says looking at me skeptically.

“Are you looking to volunteer?” I raise a challenging eyebrow.

“I thought you could use my sunny disposition.”

I can’t help but smile. “Well then, I have a spot for you right over here.” I lead the way to an empty desk near the windows where she sets down her crochet bag, a piece of yarn making its way out of the top like it has a mind of its own.

“Is this the famous Ethel?” Rausch asks.

Ethel places a hand on her hip and looks up at him as he towers over her short, round frame. If I was a betting man, my money would be on Ethel if these two were pitted against each other. “I don’t know about famous, but whatever you’ve heard,”—she pauses and gives him a naughty smile—“it’s probably true.”

Rausch laughs. Apparently, Ethel can win over anyone.

“Where’s that pretty wife of yours?” she asks.

The mention of Evangeline pulls at the edges of my wound, pain ripping through me like a lightning bolt.

Before I can make an excuse, Rausch bellows over the noise. “Angie!” She makes her way over. “This is Ethel, and she would like to volunteer.”

“People say I got a voice like honey, so if you want to put me on the phones, that’s fine by me,” Ethel proposes.

I give Rausch a thankful nod and retreat to my office. The desk is a secondhand one from the nearby school. There are strict rules on how campaign donations can be used. Right now, funds are limited as we start ramping up requests that can sometimes feel like begging. My last name can only carry me so far, and my reputation proceeds me.

“Excuse me, are you Darren Walker?” A young man inquires from the doorway.

I nod and he drops an envelope on my desk. “You’ve been served,” he says and leaves just as quickly as he arrived.

An envelope from a law office in Arizona.

I know exactly what it is. Like a Band-Aid, I rip the envelope open to expose the wound.

Divorce papers.

Pulling off my tie, I throw it across the room. It flutters through the stagnant air and lands silently on the dirty linoleum floor.

“Don’t forget about the fundraising event this weekend,” Rausch says as he enters my office. He sees my tie on the ground and picks it up. When he places it on the desk he notices the papers.

“You can gloat if you want to,” I tell him angrily, using him as a punching bag. “You got what you wanted, right?” I look up at him, the sting of getting the papers still fresh.

“If you want me to say that Evangeline leaving was the best thing for your campaign, then fine, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about seeing you in turmoil.”

I scoff. “In turmoil? Is that what you think this is?”

“No.” A look of understanding crosses his face like a shadow. “I understand your heartbreak.”

I never thought of Rausch as a person, just a thorn in my side, giving me disapproving looks and lectures about getting my life together. Of course he knows what heartbreak is. No human gets a pass on that in their lifetime, not even someone as impenetrable as Rausch.

“You can think what you want, Darren, but what I said to you before was the truth. I would have done everything within my power to protect her.”

I lift my eyes from the papers. “Well, it seems she didn’t want to be a part of this life after all.” I can’t seem to keep the disappointment out of my voice.

Rausch lets out a breath. “You can sit here and stare at those papers, or you can pull yourself together and win this election.”

 

Author Info

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. She is a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys, and the tragically flawed. Music inspires her storytelling.

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Bookbub / Newsletter

GIVEAWAY!
Rafflecopter Giveaway

Presented by

BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - CONTEMPORARY - QUEEN OF RUIN (Kingsmaker, #2) by Paula Dombrowiak

Queen of Ruin

Kingmaker, #2

by Paula Dombrowiak

Publication date: June 11th 2024

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

BLURB

Our marriage is fake. But our feelings are dangerously real…

Marrying playboy billionaire Darren Walker was only ever supposed to be a business deal.

If only it were that easy.

I’m finding it far too comfortable living in Darren’s world, and I never predicted I’d find real meaning in the charity I’m involved with while I pretend to be the perfect wife.

The worst thing is, I’m scared Darren’s feelings for me are becoming real, too.

But a woman with a past like mine doesn’t belong in a world like his. Especially because I thought my heart belonged to someone else before we were married. Someone much too close to him.

When Darren decides to leave his playboy ways behind and follow in his father’s footsteps, I must face reality. A marriage like ours won’t last forever.

Not when my former life has the power to come back to haunt me. There’s no way Darren’s reputation will survive the scandal of being married to a former escort.

And if I let myself get any deeper, neither will my heart…

Queen of Ruin is the second book in The Kingmaker trilogy, a steamy marriage of convenience romance full of political scandal. The books must be read in order for the best reader experience. This book does end in a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT:

“Revisionist history, Alistair,” I say, pointing my finger in the air before taking a seat on the step.

Alistair takes a seat next to me, stretching out his long legs over the marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

“We look back on history and memorialize a great man, but we forget about the flaws; we minimize them. His martyrdom makes it impossible to point them out. It’s true that Lincoln had one foot in the 20th century, but the other foot was still planted heavily in the 19th,” I lament, “and yet here we sit on the steps of this memorial that holds the daily pilgrimage of thousands, and we forget about those innate things that made him human.”

“We’re not really talking about Lincoln, are we?” Alistair asks astutely.

“I didn’t get along with my father,” I say as a matter of fact. “That’s never been in question; a constant since as far back as I can remember, and yet I always looked up to him.” I sigh, tilting my head towards Alistair who looks down at his clasped hands resting on his thighs. “But I always thought I knew him. Lately, I’m beginning to question that, to question a lot of things.”

“Anything in particular that you didn’t know?” he inquires, lifting a brow.

I pull out the envelope and hand it to Alistair.

“Fuck,” he says, “He was a client?”

“No, these were taken four years ago. She was a student, and my father was giving a speech at her university. She said nothing happened.”

“Do you believe her?” The photos are damning without context, but that’s the problem with photos – they’re up to the interpretation of the viewer.

“Bailey was there when they met and attests to the fact that he drove my father back to his hotel alone.”

“That’s not what I asked,” he questions.

“I wanted to believe her,” I admit, peering over at Alistair. “But it’s this part of me,” I gesture to the monument, “that needs the facts.”

“Who gave those to you?” Alistair’s question breaks through my thoughts. “Rausch?” He gives a dark laugh.

“I know he’s pissed that you circumvented the will, but now that it’s done, what does it matter to him?”

“Other than to gloat that he was right about marrying her?” I scoff. “I’m not worried about that.” I shake my head. “It’s who he got the photos from that I’m worried about.”

“If the press had gotten ahold of them…” Alistair doesn’t finish his sentence, but he doesn’t have to. This would be a huge scandal, whether it was an innocent interaction or not. Politics runs on perception, not to mention the media storm that would descend on Evangeline.

Even though I’m angry, I wouldn’t wish that upon her or the destruction of my parents’ reputation.

“Someone’s had these for four years, Alistair,” I point out, my voice sounding grave with the weight of it. “I have a feeling it was Langley.”

“But what would he have to gain from that?” Alistair asks. “Rumor around Washington was that he was going to be your father’s first pick as a running mate.”

Something my father taught me – Presidential elections aren’t won in the final hour. Presidents are made decades before they even run.

Feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket, I hold my hand up for Alistair to stop as I take a call. He rolls his eyes.

“Sir, I’ve been notified that the jet is ready for flight,” Bailey explains on the other end.

“What are you talking about?”

“The crew called me to find out if you would be joining.”

“Bailey, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I start to get agitated.

“I don’t think Evangeline knew that the flight crew would alert anyone.”

Evangeline?

Fuck!

“What’s going on?” Alistair asks, the creases of concern fanning his eyes.

“Evangeline’s leaving, and she’s taking my fucking plane.” My heart races and the sudden change makes me feel dizzy. Never did I think she would actually leave – especially when she knows what’s at stake.

“Leaving?” he asks, tilting his head in confusion. “Does she know she’s not getting any money unless she stays the whole year?”

“She knows damn well!” I yell, pacing along the steps. But if I thought Evangeline cared about the money, I’d have bought her a closet full of designer gowns, fur coats, or whatever the fuck she wanted.

She’d rather leave penniless then stay with me.

I press the phone to my ear and ask to be patched into the pilot.

“What’s the destination?” I ask before the pilot can utter a word.

“Sorry, Mr. Walker?”

“Where the fuck is my wife going?” I fume.

“Las Vegas, sir,” the captain confirms. “Do you want me to cancel the flight?”

 

Author Info

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. She is a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys, and the tragically flawed. Music inspires her storytelling.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub / Newsletter

GIVEAWAY!
Rafflecopter Giveaway

Presented by

BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - CONTEMPORARY - KING OF NOTHING (Kingmaker, #1) by Paula Dombrowiak

King of Nothing

Kingmaker, #1

by Paula Dombrowiak

Publication date: March 12th 2024

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

BLURB

I’m not the sort of girl you take home to meet your parents.

But our marriage of convenience is the perfect revenge…

I find Darren Walker drowning himself in expensive whiskey. Young, handsome, and educated, he’s the playboy son of a U.S. Senator, and his father’s sudden death has hit him harder than expected.

When he offers me millions of dollars to marry him, I want to tell him that I can’t be bought.

But of course, that’s not true, and Darren is prepared to play dirty.

He’s made it his life’s mission to squander his potential in order to avoid living in his father’s shadow. But if he wants to see even one cent of his trust fund, he needs a wife. And not just any wife will do.

Ours will purely be a marriage of convenience, and I’m going to be his final, perfect revenge.

My name is Evangeline Bowen, and I’m an escort to the rich and powerful. But soon I’ll be the wife of a Senator’s son, who thinks he knows all my dark secrets.

All of them, except for one…

King of Nothing is the first book in The Kingmaker trilogy, a steamy marriage of convenience romance full of political scandal. The books must be read in order for the best reader experience.

Goodreads

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT:

“Your parents are dead, and you trash a hotel room.” His blue eyes look past me as he adds on, “And apparently fuck hookers.”

I follow his gaze to see Evangeline coming from the bedroom, her hair still wet and dripping onto her shoulders while she holds her shoes.

“What makes you think I’m a hooker?” she asks as she slips on her heels.

Rausch assesses her carefully, his mouth pressed firmly in a tight line. “An educated guess.”

“Jesus Christ, Darren. Do you know how much this will cost to fix?” Rausch gestures dramatically to the trashed room. I notice the TV mounted on the wall is cracked, and I just now remember that I hit it on my way out of the room last night, looking down at my knuckles to notice the bruises only just now.

“Just have the hotel send me the bill.”

“Money is not going to fix this,” Rausch yells, “especially when you don’t have any.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

Alistair straightens. “Can we just calm down?”

“I don’t think either of you fuckups really understand the gravity of the situation,” Rausch spits, pinching his eyebrows as if he’s talking to two disorderly students instead of two grown men. “Your parents are dead, and not only is that a difficult situation for Congress, but it also means your money – your parent’s money,” he makes a point to say, “is tied up in probate.”

“Can you – just stop saying that?” I throw my hands up.

“That your parents are dead? No, because the sooner you wake up and join reality, the better.”

“What do you mean, there’s no money?”

“The money is locked up in probate.”

“What the fuck do you mean, probate?” I question, staring at Rausch with my chest heaving.

“You went to law school; did they not teach you about probate law?” Rausch doesn’t rattle easily, that’s why he got the reputation he has. Unbreakable, formidable, and effective – The Kingmaker.

Of course I know about probate law, and that means my parents money could be frozen anywhere from six months to two years.

I’m mad at Rausch for being the only one I have right now. I’m mad at myself for being such a fuckup. I’m mad at the pilot for crashing the helicopter. I’m mad that I feel anything.

“Is that what you think I’m worried about?” I ask him.

“You have worried about no one else but yourself, Darren, your whole life,” Rausch lectures. “What do you think your mother would say if she saw you right now?” His eyes travel south, and then over to Evangeline, who is still standing next to me, eyeing the exit that is still blocked by the security guard.

“This is what I’m talking about.” Rausch points to the overturned table. “It’s exactly why your parents put stipulations in their wills.”

I pull on the shorts and toss my hair out of my eyes. “Stipulations?” I ask, cautiously.

“Yes, Darren. If you weren’t being such a fucking child, you would listen to me,” Rausch continues, and he’s right. I don’t want to listen to him, but he has me in a stranglehold right now, like a boa constrictor around my neck. Worse yet, he knows it.

My father rarely discussed business with me, and he certainly didn’t make me privy to his will or his wishes, should something happen to him. He certainly wasn’t anticipating dying in a helicopter crash with my mom and leaving me alone to figure things out.

When I look at Rausch I take that back, because my father did anticipate such things, he just put Rausch in charge—not me. He never would have trusted me to handle his estate. Right now, I’m at Rausch’s mercy, so I keep my mouth shut while the anger burns through me.

“You don’t get any money until you’re thirty years old,” Rausch says, and then after a dramatic pause, adds, “or married.”

Jesus fuck!

He’ll make me beg, give me condescending lectures, and torture me for the next three fucking years. My heart sinks into my stomach, and Rausch can see it all on my face – the realization that he owns me. A satisfied smirk appears on his mouth.

Perhaps if I had been the good son, stayed out of trouble, listened to him more, prayed at the altar of Emerson, who he loved so fucking much, maybe then he wouldn’t have put Rausch in charge of his affairs.

I narrow my eyes at Rausch because I’ve never been known to back down from a fight, and I still have skin in this game. It’s an impulsive move, but dire situations require dire action. I grab Evangeline, pulling her to my side. “Well, isn’t it convenient that my fiancée is right here?”

 

Author Info

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. She is a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys, and the tragically flawed. Music inspires her storytelling.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook Group / Twitter / Bookbub / Instagram / Newsletter

GIVEAWAY!
Rafflecopter Giveaway

Hosted by:

Presented by

BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - CONTEMPORARY - BEAUTIFUL LIES by Paula Dombrowiak

Beautiful Lies

by Paula Dombrowiak

Publication date: April 17th 2023

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

BLURB

I own the boardroom. He owns the stage. We were never meant to be together, but when something’s forbidden, it only makes you want it more.

My jaded heart was determined never to be fooled again. There’s too much at stake, and my daughter always comes first.

And then one night, on the eve of my forty-third birthday, I walked into a bar, and locked eyes with Adrian Corvin.

He’s a musician, covered in tattoos… and way too young. He’s the opposite of everything I should want.

When he followed me outside of the bar, not even the Arizona monsoon could keep me from kissing him.

With just one taste, I was an addict.

It was only supposed to be one night.

No names, no expectations, and no truths.

Only lies.

And he tells beautiful lies.

Goodreads

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play

EXCERPT:

Maybe it’s the beer or the stifling heat, but his eyes seem to follow as I make my way around the room. Caught staring back, it’s as if he sees my thoughts when the corner of his lip tugs into a knowing smile. It’s impossible for him to know that I’m imagining what kind of lover he would be – selfish or generous, relentless or fleeting, but his smile says otherwise. That smile could knock a girl right out of her panties. Maybe for one night I can be someone else, and that makes the prospects endless.

Slipping between the crowd, I find myself on the street. A gust of wind travels down the long strip mall. Everything is dark, all the other stores closed for the night. Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply and smell the rain.

It’s coming.

The city hibernates all year waiting for the rain to penetrate the hard-shelled soil, breaking it open, and once it does, everything comes to life.

A lightning bolt stretches across the sky just as the wind picks up, blowing the hair from my neck and cooling it. I start to walk down the block on the way back to my car, passing a darkened record store when I hear a voice call out behind me. “Hey.”

Without even turning around, I know it’s him, the singer with the velvet voice and the kissable lips. The wind continues to blow like a freight train down the block, picking up the edges of my shirt and blowing my hair across my face. Turning around, I see he’s standing on the sidewalk, looking every bit as delicious as he did on stage. Waiting for him to look around me, to the person whose attention he was really trying to get, but he just stares at me the same way he did in the bar, like he’s trying to unearth my secrets.

Caught in the spider’s web of his soulful eyes, I’m unable to move.

The silence is broken when the sky opens and dumps heavy sheets of rain, plastering my hair to my face and my shirt against my body in less than a minute. Moving towards me, with each step closing the distance between us, the bashful smile on his face causes my pulse to quicken, and the blood rushing in my ears becomes the only sound I can hear. When he reaches me, I can see the pulse in his neck as his hand grips my waist, guiding me into the alcove of the darkened record store, taking us out of the rain. With his hand still on my waist, the heat from it makes me shiver.

His close proximity takes the breath out of me, and I watch as the water drips from his hair onto his full lips, leaving a trail down his chin. In the dim light of the alcove with only the streetlamp to illuminate his face, I see the green flecks in his brown eyes as he searches mine. They pull me in like a magnet; intense and beautiful. My palms press against his chest slowly gathering his shirt between my fingers, all while my heart pounds in my chest because this stranger drew me in the minute I laid eyes on him in the bar. It’s as if he is a tiny piece of my past buried long ago now being unearthed.

Maybe it’s the wind, the way it wraps itself around us, pushing us together rather than pulling us apart, I feel as though this is a chance I need to take. How many times in the last eighteen years had I truly taken something just for myself? And how many more times in my lifetime will I get a chance to choose something for myself?

In the small space between us, a question lingers in the air.

Can I kiss you?

Wanting it and doing it are two different things, because once I cross that line, will I be taking a step backwards? Looking at his beautiful rain-soaked face, I know the answer.

 

Author Info

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. She is a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys, and the tragically flawed. Music inspires her storytelling.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bookbub / Newsletter

GIVEAWAY!
Rafflecopter Giveaway

Hosted by:

Presented by

BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - CONTEMPORARY - BONDS WE BREAK (Blood & Bone, #3) by Paula Dombrowiak

Bonds We Break

Blood & Bone, #3

by Paula Dombrowiak

Publication date: April 14th 2022

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

BLURB

To have and to hold from this day forward – to love and to cherish, till death do us part – and these are the bonds we break.

My name is Mia Stone. You may know how my story ends, but the truth is buried between the headlines. A secret that was meant to be taken to the grave – Until now.

I promised myself to one man, while still in love with another. I came between two best friends and by betraying one, I lost everything. In the end, we both knew, those bonds were always meant to be broken.

These men want to own me, possess me, or hold me down, but I was never meant to be tamed.

I have been told that I am a force of nature, but even a hurricane comes to an end.

Authors Note: If you have read Blood & Bone then you know how Mia’s story ends. If you require a happy ending, this book may not be for you. You can choose to skip this book and read Bound To Burn. If you choose to read Bonds We Break, know that this book contains sensitive subjects so please read with care.

Goodreads

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT:

“I don’t care. I’ve always only wanted you, Mia. I love you so much I would burn down the fucking world just to have you.” I try not to focus on the tremble of his lips against my skin. It’s torture standing so close to him, feeling him, breathing him in… but that’s what he’s counting on.

“That’s the problem,” I explain.

Tears stream down my cheeks like rain against a windowpane. My lower lip trembles as I rest my nose against his, breathing him in for one last time. I want to memorize every line on his face.

“Tell me you don’t love me,” he demands. This is too much for one person to handle.

“I can’t.” I grip the collar of his jacket so tight I think I might tear it away from him.

“Why does it have to be so complicated?” Those ocean blue eyes of his swim with emotion as they gaze at me.

We were always complicated. From the moment he first wrote in my journal and kept it secret from everyone else, we sealed our fate.

“I need you to let me go,” I beg, the words coming out stronger than I thought I was capable of.

“You know I can’t do that,” he growls.

“Then I will walk away for the both of us.” I muster every last bit of strength I have in me to say it.

Jack grips the back of my head, his fingers fisting my hair, and I know he doesn’t want to let me go just as much as I don’t want him to either, but it’s the way it has to be.

“I can’t let you go,” he whispers into my hair, placing a kiss on top of my head. “I won’t ever let you go.”

“I know.” I let my lips brush against his, the feeling causing me to sag against him as every nerve ending lights up in my body. For a few seconds we are at an impasse, unable to move, a hairs breadth between our lips, until we finally touch.

The kiss is so achingly slow and devastatingly beautiful that a piece of me is lost to him forever. I can taste the salt of his tears, and I swallow them with a kiss. He takes my face in his hands and I place my hands over his, holding us together as if I were to let go, we would fall apart.

That is what will happen. Once I let go, we will fall apart.

I have to let go.

“I love you,” I admit but he already knows this.

“If you didn’t love me, this would be easier,” he says against my lips.

“I don’t like the person I am with you,” I tell him as I let my hands fall away from his, breaking the spell, and we peel apart like the water being pulled away from the sand.

“It doesn’t have to be that way. I can be a better person. I can try. Just don’t give up on me.” The desperation clings in the air like humidity before a storm. I want to believe him, but he’s not capable, not now anyway. Timing is everything.

“I don’t make you a better person.” That’s the real problem. For me, he will give up anything, do anything, be anything, even if it destroys everything around us. That’s not the kind of muse I want to be.

I pull back to get a good look at him. “It’s not our time.” Maybe someday it will be, but that day is not today. “I need to learn how to be me without you.” My eyes swim with tears. He is all I have ever known since I left home, and I fear he is a crutch I lean on far too much.

“That’s the difference between me and you,” Jack says as he strokes my cheek with a callused finger. “I don’t want to know what it’s like to live without you.”

I can’t bear to look at him now and cast my eyes down to his chest. It rises and falls to the rhythm of my own heart. “If it’s meant to be, we will find each other again.”

 

Author Info

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. I am a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys and the tragically flawed. Music is what inspires her storytelling.

Check out my website for more ways to learn about me and my books, as well as purchase signed paperbacks and book merchandise @ www.pauladombrowiak.com

Website / Goodreads / Facebook Page / Facebook Group / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok / Bookbub / Amazon

GIVEAWAY!
Rafflecopter Giveaway

Hosted by:

Presented by

BOOK BLITZ w/EXCERPT - CONTEMPORARY - BLOOD AND BONE (Blood and Bone, #1) by Paula Dombrowiak

Blood and Bone

Blood and Bone, #1

by Paula Dombrowiak

Publication date: October 30th 2020

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

BLURB

Love is complicated, messy, and sometimes painful but oh so worth it. A heartbreaking journey through love, friendship, family, and fame.

Music brought them together, addiction tore them apart, loyalty saved them. It was always Jack and Mia, everyone else was just collateral damage.

Jack O’Donnell‘s life was teetering on the edge. Forced, as a teenager, to make a decision that would change his life forever, he left his hometown to pursue a music career with collaborator Mia Stone. Living in a van by the beach was not the glamorous Los Angeles lifestyle they had envisioned but sparked the most creative time of their lives. Making it big was all they ever wanted but when it happened, friendships were tested, hearts were broken, and lives were changed forever.

Erin Langford is a seasoned journalist tasked with writing a feature on Jack O’Donnell. Being at the right place at the right moment puts Erin in a unique position to get the story, but at what cost? Having preconceived notions about Jack’s rock star image, she learns there is more to a story than just the headlines. The two embark on a journey through Jack’s past where he recounts the rise and fall of his band Mogo and the irreplaceable bond between himself and collaborator Mia Stone. The feature she thought she was going to write, turns into so much more.

Blood and Bone is an evocative story told in alternating time periods, from the early ’90s to the present day about deep bonds between flawed people whose only outlet of self-expression is through their music.

Goodreads

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Smashwords

—

EXCERPT:

“I didn’t get this gig because of my looks.” Erin explained but he seemed unfazed. “Just so you know.” Never had she cared about such a thing from any other interview, but she wanted Jack to respect her. That was the only way this interview would be taken seriously.

“If you say so.” He did not seem convinced.

“I have a pretty extensive portfolio.” She felt compelled to make him understand that she was not being used as bait or whatever he thought. “Edge is just one of the magazines that I’ve written for.” She clarified. “You can look up my work.”

“I believe you.” Jack said putting his hands up but it was Erin who was not convinced now.

Returning to business. “I’m going to turn on my recorder.” She told him.

“Ah, we’re getting serious now.” Jack leaned back in his seat, trying to appear comfortable but everything about him was tense.

“Where should we start?” Jack asked, smoothing his hair with one nervous swipe of his fingers.

Erin took out her notebook and clicked the pen open, always well prepared. The waitress dropped off their drinks. She discretely placed a napkin near Jack with her name and number written on it. This angered Erin as she felt slightly protective over Jack after the events of the morning and gave the waitress the stink eye as she left the table.

Jack ignored the waitress and gave all his attention to Erin, waiting for her to continue. “You look displeased.” Jack suggested.

“I just think that’s presumptuous.” Erin motioned to the napkin.

“How so?” Jack cocked his head.

“Well, for one, we could be on a date.” Erin said in an annoyed tone.

“Would you like for us to be on a date?” Jack’s smile unnerved her.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Erin scoffed.

“You brought it up.” Jack shrugged innocently.

“Ok, that’s not…” Erin was frustrated. “Never mind.” She settled back in.

Erin cleared her throat and went back to business. “It’s been 20 years since the first album came out. I’d like to go back to how the band was formed. There’s not a lot of information on this subject, other than you being high school friends, but I’d like to go a little deeper and talk about what it was like before the fame.” She said.

Erin could see a slight tick at the corner of Jack’s eye. “If that’s ok.” She added, swallowing hard.

Jack took a sip of his cappuccino and Erin could tell he was very pleased with it. “I was a sixteen-year-old asshole of a kid who was destined to drop out of school and end up in jail.” He said. “Music was all I had.”

“Well, you did drop out and you did end up in jail, on more than one occasion.” Erin sifted through her notes. “But my guess is that there was a lot that happened in between.” She took a sip of her latte. Every place made chai differently and she was not impressed but it was drinkable. She was partial to a shop around the corner from her apartment in Queens.

Jack chuckled. “That’s a matter of public record.”

“You said music was all you had. Why?”

Jack’s expression darkened.

“How did the band get formed?” Erin rephrased.

“It’s how every great love story begins.” A touch of nostalgia in his eyes. “I met a girl.” A smile spread across his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I met a girl and she ruined me forever.”

Erin could not tell if he was talking about Mia or Amber. She only knew that she wanted to find out.

Author Info

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. Music is what inspires her storytelling.

Paula is currently working on a sequel to Blood and Bone which focuses on Hayley O'Donnell's music career while living in her fathers shadow.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub / Smashwords

GIVEAWAY!
Rafflecopter Giveaway

Hosted by

Presented by