Showing posts with label Thea Landen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thea Landen. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Another Sweet Teaser from Elysium

As promised... here's your second teaser....

Will April ever be ready to love another man?

 Blurb:
Two years have passed since April Patterson’s husband was shot and killed in the line of duty, and she’s trapped in a haze of grief and uncertainty. Having grown frustrated by all other efforts to engage her in activities where she could meet new people, her cousin pays for a date via 1Night Stand. Not thrilled with the idea, April nevertheless contacts Madame Eve and requests the impossible: a date with her deceased husband.

Brilliant software engineer Drew Monroe created his company, Elysium, to help give closure to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one, through the use of virtual reality. Though passionate about his work, being constantly surrounded by heartache and death has taken a toll on his mental health. When he accepts the case of a young widow referred to him by Madame Eve, her tragic tale depresses him further, but he commits himself to programming April the romantic date she desires.

April arrives at Elysium and prepares to enter Drew’s virtual realm. Will she find the solace she seeks within? Or will she discover she doesn’t need a fantasy world to discover happiness again?

Excerpt:
I came over to her in an effort to console her, and I doubted I’d even succeeded at that. In trying to offer her comfort, I’d contorted myself into an awkward position, trapping us between her chair and mine. The helmet she flung at me balanced on one leg, and my opposite elbow stuck out at an unnatural angle as I struggled to hold her in some sort of odd embrace. Terrific.
Her tears pooled on my upper arm, soaking through the shirt. “I’m sorry,” she kept repeating, her voice strained and muffled. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry….”

“No, I’m sorry.” My throat constricted, and for a second I thought I’d start crying with her. I grieved for a man I never met, and twinges of guilt tugged at my conscience as I thought about all the times I’d envied him. Coupled with the blatant shortcomings in operating Elysium’s software, I was not feeling very good about myself. “I’m sorry I let you down.” One arm tightened around her and shame pushed the next selfish words out. “I wanted to give you something no one else could. I wanted to let you be happy again.”

Little by little, April calmed down. She stopped shaking and her breathing slowed. Lifting her head, she stared at me with red-rimmed eyes. Something shifted within their gray depths, and she moved as if to stand. I expected her to disentangle herself from me and gather her belongings, but she leaned against the edge of the chair, wedging one knee between my thigh and the armrest. Before I could react, her hands were in my hair, her tongue was in my mouth, and she kissed me with a blazing intensity as if it was the last thing she’d ever do.

What?

Kiss her back, you idiot.

Without breaking contact, I tilted backward in the chair and set the virtual headset on the floor behind me. When I had both hands free, I grasped her waist and pulled her closer. Her lips were soft and inviting, and the taste of her tongue as she swirled it around mine hypnotized me. Could this really be happening?

I skimmed both palms over her sides and back. Her body was warm through her thin T-shirt, and I yearned to discover what her skin felt like beneath her clothing. Afraid to push too far too fast in case I broke whatever spell we were under, I settled for weaving my fingers through her long, smooth locks.

Any intentions I had of keeping our exploration innocent flew out the window when she climbed farther onto the chair. Straddling me, she gave my lower lip a sharp nibble, and I tried not to groan in response. Wrapping my arms around her, I lost myself to the fervor of our kiss. She had to have felt the expanding erection stirring beneath her.

She pulled away from me, her face flushed scarlet. “Oh my God,” she mumbled, clasping her hands over her mouth. “What is wrong with me?”


Are you hooked? Buy it now.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Tuesday Teaser: Elysium (1Night Stand), by Thea Landen

I was hooked when I read the blurb. This is one of those stories you can't put down. You'll fall into the tale and experience it right along with the characters. Thea Landen certainly knows how to capture emotion! If you don't pick up the book today, I'll be handing out more tasty little teasers to real you in.

Will April ever be ready to love another man?


Two years have passed since April Patterson’s husband was shot and killed in the line of duty, and she’s trapped in a haze of grief and uncertainty. Having grown frustrated by all other efforts to engage her in activities where she could meet new people, her cousin pays for a date via 1Night Stand. Not thrilled with the idea, April nevertheless contacts Madame Eve and requests the impossible: a date with her deceased husband.

Brilliant software engineer Drew Monroe created his company, Elysium, to help give closure to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one, through the use of virtual reality. Though passionate about his work, being constantly surrounded by heartache and death has taken a toll on his mental health. When he accepts the case of a young widow referred to him by Madame Eve, her tragic tale depresses him further, but he commits himself to programming April the romantic date she desires.

April arrives at Elysium and prepares to enter Drew’s virtual realm. Will she find the solace she seeks within? Or will she discover she doesn’t need a fantasy world to discover happiness again?

Excerpt:
We sat in silence. It was the first time a client had asked me so many personal questions. On one hand, I worried about coming across as unprofessional, but on the other, it felt good to verbalize those thoughts for a change. Putting that aside, April hadn’t come to play psychiatrist with me. I had a job to do.

“Anything else before we get started?” I pushed off the edge of the desk and straightened.

She didn’t get up. “Do you ever go into your own virtual realities?”

“Actually, I don’t.” I ran a finger along the top of one of the screens. “First of all, it needs to be monitored from the outside. I can’t do both at the same time.”

“Got it.” She nodded. “What else?”

A clammy feeling crawled over me. “Nothing.”

“You said ‘first of all.’ That means there must be a second.”

She’d paid attention, I’d give her that. I tried to backtrack. “Forget it.”

Sliding her arm off the chair, she leaned forward, ginger hair spilling over her shoulders. “I want to know what I’m getting into. Tell me.” Face upturned, she stared at me and I struggled to breathe in a normal rhythm. “Please?”

Don’t say it, don’t admit to it, she doesn’t need to know…. Talking to her eased a little of the tension that had been twisting tighter and tighter over time. I ignored the voices telling me not to make a confession, but the words spilled out faster than I’d intended.

“With all the misery and heartache I see in the world, the temptation exists to disappear into a painless fantasy.” The chill spreading through me intensified. “I’m afraid I’d lose myself and never want to come out.”

April blinked her long lashes and straightened in the chair. “That’s one of the reasons I’m anxious about going in there.”


Buy Links:

Publisher:
Decadent Publishing

Date Published:
March 6, 2014

Genre(s):
Erotic Romance, Sci-Fi, Contemporary

Heat Rating:
4 out of 5 Flames

Review Excerpts:
“Judging from the pile of tissues, this short book is at least a five tissue book if you're a crier; however, it's laughter, as well!” – Amazon.com review

Author Bio:
Thea Landen lives in New York with her husband and a variety of houseplants. A former educator, she strives to encourage creativity and passion in all those around her, and uses writing to help inspire. Though she reads and writes in nearly all genres, she has a special fondness for science fiction, fantasy, and adventure and anything that pushes the imagination beyond its usual limits. When she’s not writing, or thinking about writing, her hands and mind are occupied by either yarn crafts or role-playing games.

Contact Details:
Email: thea@thealanden.com
Website: www.thealanden.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thealanden
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00948YAXW