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Book Blurb & Info
Title: Chasing Serenity
Series: Seeking Serenity series, Book #1
Author: Eden Butler
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 11, 2013
Cover Designed by: Steven Novak: http://www.novakillustration.com/
Graduate student Autumn McShane has had her share of heartbreak. She's been abandoned and betrayed and she lost her beloved mother in a tragic car accident five months ago. That loss damaged her body and fractured her spirit but she's learning to recover, until her ex-boyfriend returns to town, intent on making her life miserable.
Declan Fraser hates her ex as much as Autumn does, but the last thing she needs is to put her trust in the hands of another man, especially one like Declan: his hard body and lulling Irish accent makes more than a few girls weak-kneed. The talented rugby player is rude and sarcastic, with tattooed, muscular arms and a cocky attitude, but he's the only one who can help Autumn win an ill-advised bet that, if lost, could cost her more than she's willing to pay. The reluctant alliance between Declan and Autumn stirs up cravings she doesn't want to admit, but Declan is a hard man to resist.
Just when Autumn starts letting down her carefully constructed walls to the sexy bad boy, he betrays her when she needs him most. Autumn suspects Declan has secrets, and she is determined to uncover what drove him away from her, even if that means fraternizing with the enemy. But will the truth return Declan to her arms or add to the scars on her heart?
Book Excerpt
Fubar’s
Declan’s body is solid against mine and that masculine, outdoorsy smell of his wafts into my nose, makes my stomach twist pleasantly. I start to pull away, my anger at him a bit stronger than my buzz, but he stops me, wraps his large hands on my waist.
“Be nice,” he says and nuzzles my neck.
That rational part of my brain that tells me to walk away, to get as far from this caveman as possible, seems to be sleeping. I’m too focused on the way he feels, how tight he holds me, how his breath warms my neck as he pulls me against him. I don’t care about the blonde he just left, don’t mind that his hands are on my waist, that I can feel the strong contours of his chest as we keep a slow, close rhythm.
But I can’t take the heat in his eyes, how dark they’ve become, how intensely his gaze eats away at my features. I turn, my back to his chest, my head rests on his shoulder and Declan settles his hands around my hips, guides me as we dance. The sputtering of my heart is fast. My head rolls to the side and his bourbon and beer mixed breath fans over my face. My body responds to the way he feels against me, how his hands slide up my arms, my hips, how warm his breath feels on my skin. When his arms tighten around my waist and he kisses my neck, I lift my head to the side and watch him.
“What are you doing?”
“Can’t you tell?”
“This is more of that too much friendliness behavior we talked about.”
He moves me to face him, holds my cheeks in his hands. His pupils are wide, the green in his irises shining bright and I’m sure he’s likely as drunk as I am. But he smells sweet, he feels sweeter and I forget to care about our drunkenness or that he pissed me off earlier.
“I’m not your fecking friend, McShane.” And then his mouth covers mine, searing, certain. This isn’t like the simple peck that he gave me last night. It’s firmer, more severe and heated than even our first kisses in the basement. His kiss is deep and long and when I try to pull back, afraid his tongue will make an appearance, the pressure on my face increases. He breaks away from me, but his arm curls tight around my body, at the curve of my lower back. Through the haze of drunkenness and that left-unfilled pulse against my clit, I forget my earlier declarations, ignore the fact that he isn’t right for me or that I’m being irresponsible. I kiss him back, let my tongue slide across his bottom lip. His low growl vibrates against his throat, makes my stomach flutter and I’m instantly caught up in the need and want of him. Declan moves back, kisses my neck again, lets his mouth leave cool tracks of moisture in its wake and then he whispers in my ear. “Come with me.”
Drunk and swaying, I follow Declan to the back of the bar. There are couches and chaises in a semi-circle and a row of plush chairs pushed back against the wall. We never make it to any of them. It is late, the crowd has thinned and Declan finds a small, dark alcove illuminated only by the slight red light of the exit sign. He pulls on my hand, pushes me against the wall and spends five full seconds staring at me, no smile quirking his lips, as though he’s giving me an out. When I pull my bottom lip under my teeth, Declan’s nostrils flare and his hands cradle my face, his mouth returns to mine.
His tongue slips between my lips, so simple, so effortless, as though that is where it was always meant to be and I moan as he cups my ass. He pauses, a wicked smirk on his face. “Not going to knee me again, are you?”
A quick smile twists across my lips before I grab his hand and lead it back onto my body. “Do it again.”
We become a flurry of motions. He lifts me up, grip tight on the backs of my thighs. I pull on his hair, yank his head back to expose his neck, nibble on the skin and by the shake of his body, by how tight his grip is on me, how thick he feels against me, I know that Declan is as desperate for more as I am.
He stops as though he’s fighting for control and then his eyes are searching mine. He worries his bottom lip. “My God, I’m dying here.” He moves in close to breathe against my neck, his mouth just near the shell of my ear. “I want to be inside you,” he whispers, then rests his head on my shoulder, his breathing a hard pant. “But I’m drunk. You’re drunk.”
Whatever I thought I might say becomes a blur. I want to continue, I want him back at my apartment, in my bed, but my head spins and the lights and sounds around me twist my stomach into knots. I push him back, make him stop and he gives me little resistance.
“Shite, don’t get mad, McShane—”
I grab his collar and close my eyes. “Shut up, Declan. I’m not mad. I’m just…I’m going to be sick.”
Top 5 List
“Let Me Count the Ways…”
Declan:5. It wasn’t long ginger hair that had me drunkenly running toward her that night on the pitch. It was her arse. That round, tight arse that swished in those temptingly tight pants she wore. Now, I love it even more. I love to slap it, to hold it, to feel that glorious arse curved against me when we sleep. The arse drew my attention, the girl stole my heart.
4. Autumn doesn’t know how to whistle. I don’t know why I find that funny, but I do. She tries, mind you. She tries very hard, but normally the only sound that leaves her puckered lips comes out as a little wet raspberry. But it’s the trying bit that I love about my McShane. She never stops trying. She doesn’t like being told something is impossible. She tries and tries and tries again and doesn’t mind when she fails. That’s either stark stubbornness or brilliant resilience. I haven’t quite sorted out which it is just yet. All I know is that I love every persistent effort she makes. It’s brilliant.
3. She is not perfect. Autumn has scars on her stomach, along her legs. Sometimes, when she’s working hard on her thesis and the day slips away from her, she doesn’t even bother getting out of her night things. She pops her gum when she chews it, which fecking annoys the shite out of me. But those scars she got the night her mum died and she loved her mum like breathing. And that way she forgets to comb her hair or even dress tells me that she’s so bleeding passionate about her work that everything else falls away. I benefit from that passion, trust me. The gum popping I secretly love because it clues me in on when she’s bored or nervous and needs my attention. She is not perfect, but she is perfect for me.
2. There is a large grouping of freckles on Autumn’s collarbone. I like to kiss that group and the spots above it, below it. They scatter over her chest, down her glorious tits, to her stomach. I have kissed every single one. I tried counting those freckles once, lost count at 210. The freckles I love as much as that glorious mane of ginger head. I told her once she reminded me of home. She laughed at me, thought I was having her on. I wasn’t. What I didn’t tell her then, what I believed later on, was that she was home to me. She was the faces I’d seen every day growing up. She was the eyes that were so familiar, so comforting. She was the green fields and low mountains around every road I ran as a lad. But, somehow, she was much more. Now when I kiss those freckles, I don’t see a country, don’t hear accents or slang that I miss. When I’m with her, no country can claim me. She is my home. She is where I belong.
1. She tells me she loves me. Every day. When we leave off on the phone, when we say goodnight, when her sweaty body rubs against mine, when she curls under my arms, against my chest; she never fails to say “I love you.” Those three little words are powerful. Depends on the bloke, but they can either weaken a man to his knees or have him running away like he’s being chased by an psychotic knife-wielding clown. A lot of folks say “I love you.” Most don’t mean it. But when Autumn says it to me, every single time she says it, in fact, her face lights up, her eyes go all soft and sincere and I know she means it. What I love most, is that I mean it too. I mean the hell out of it.
Autumn:
5. I hated his smirk. From the first time I spoke to Declan Fraser, that snarky little smirk told me he was trouble. He’s got this way about him; it’s in his expressions. High smirk lifting the left side of his mouth, means he’s amused. Low smirk bending down his lips, means he’s thinking something filthy. Deep smirk denting his cheek until his dimple exaggerates, means he’s scheming. I hated that smirk because I thought I hated him. I didn’t. I really, really didn’t.
4. When you’re a Geek you look for friends and acquaintances that have similar tastes. I love “Firefly” and “Buffy” and all things “Doctor Who.” Declan loves comics and “Harry Potter” and can quote every single line from Army of Darkness. When two Geeks collide? Well, that is a very special thing. It’s freeing to love someone whose passion for fandom mimics your own. And when that Geek is wrapped up in a blokey, hard muscled, staggeringly beautiful package, you call it Heaven and tend to fall asleep with a smile on your face. I haven’t stopped smiling for over a year now.
3. He said “I love you” first. I wasn’t looking for it, didn’t think I wanted to hear it. But when a beautiful, smart, determined, protective man has balls enough to tell you he loves you, then you quickly decide you don’t care about whether you wanted to hear it or not.
2. His kisses are like Novocain. That’s not a dig. His wide mouth, his full lips, they are a deadly, numbing drug. The first didn’t count…he had zero game that night on the pitch. But when I was panicking, when I felt the world closing in on me, when I thought I’d die from the fear, those drug-like lips crashed down on me, took control and made me forgot that my world was crumbling. They still drug me, still calm me and sometimes I like to fake an attack…just to be drugged over and over again. You can’t blame me, can you?
1. He gave me a family. I never thought I’d be whole again. When you lose a parent, it’s very much like a part of you dies. Your world crumbles, your reality fractures and what is left are splinters of who you used to be. That was me when my mom died. I never thought I’d know what it was to have someone to belong to again. I never thought I’d have the comfort you can only get from family—the laughter, the fights, the lazy days spent vegging out or being silent. It was the simple things that I missed most after the accident. Then Declan thunders into my life, dragging my Da right along with him. He didn’t enter my life with a whimper, it was a resounding drumming vibration and I loved the noise. But he took the lessons my father taught him, brought with him the love and compassion for those you belong to and settled it all right in my lap. He is my home, he is my people and I will never be able to thank him enough.
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Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FUQ6580
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Author Info
When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, thinking up impossible plots, Eden edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.
Author Contact Info:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eden.butler.10?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EdenButler_
Blog: http://edenbutlerwrites.wordpress.com/
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/21011324-eden-butler
~Giveaway~
Eden is offering up (4) eBook copies of Chasing Serenity (INTL) and (2) $25.00 Amazon or B&N gift cards, winner's choice (INTL) up for grabs.
Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST 10/28/2013
~To Enter~
Please fill out the rafflecopter below
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Tour Info
I think ALL Rugby players are HOT, unless they are missing teeth! Thanks, Christie Lee
ReplyDeletenot a rugby fan; any alpha
ReplyDeletePerfect book boyfriend would be someone confident, smart alec in a cute way, sweet, honest, and always there for their girl.
ReplyDeleteThat would usually be the one I'm reading about at the time :)
ReplyDeleteMy book boyfriends have to have a sense of humor and some compassion.
ReplyDelete