Reader's Edyn: Blitz: Moonlight & Whiskey by Tricia Lynne + GIVEAWAY

**Moonlight & Whiskey by Tricia Lynne**

Good Morning, Everyone! So thrilled to see you all today! We have another new-to-me author and book! Please allow me to feature on the blog Tricia Lynne and her latest release, MOONLIGHT & WHISKEY … Plus, a GIVEAWAY!

**TRICIA LYNNE**

**BIO**

Tricia Lynne is fluent in both sarcasm and cuss words, and has little filter between her brain and mouth--a combination that tends to embarrass her husband at corporate functions. A tomboy at heart, she loves hard rock, Irish whiskey, and her Midwestern roots.

She's drawn to strong, flawed heroines, and believes writing isn't a decision one makes, but a calling one can't resist. She lives in Dallas 'burbs with her husband and a rescued Cane Corso.

To find out more about Ms. Lynne, please visit:

**MOONLIHGT & WHISKEY**

Publication date: March 12, 2019

Genres: Adult, Romance, Erotica

**BLURB**

“Super sexy! Against a sensual New Orleans backdrop, Moonlight & Whiskey follows a woman’s journey toward acceptance of her body and herself.”—Helen Hoang, author of The Kiss Quotient

When life gives you curves, you gotta learn how to rock them.

Successful businesswoman Avery Barrows likes her dips and curves, but she’s sick of the haters telling her that she should be ashamed of her body instead of embracing it. Determined to send them a big f*** you, Avery resolves to cut loose during a girls’ trip, hightailing her quick-mouthed, plus-sized self to New Orleans. So, what’s a smart woman with a little extra gotta do to get laid in this town?

Not much if you ask Declan McGinn, the lead singer of BlackSmith. Tall, dark, and tattooed, with a body made for sin, Declan prefers his women as curvy as his guitars. Avery’s sharp tongue and keen mind makes him want her even more.

As they burn up the sheets, Avery and Declan realize this is no one-night (or even one-week) stand. But for all of her bluster, Avery isn’t sure she can handle any more rejection. Besides, Declan has demons of his own. Now Avery has a choice to make: play it safe, or place her trust in the hands of a man who’s as tempting as the devil himself.

**EXCERPT**

I shifted my weight and winced at the stab of pain that traveled around my ankle. The hot guy who’d mowed me down looked me over with concern etched onto his face.

“You all right, Avery?” Kat rounded my side.

“Shit. I hurt you.” Calloused hands covered my arms again and I jolted as a whipcrack of electricity rode down my spine and goose bumps raced over my shoulders.

Christ, I liked his hands on me.

“I think I twisted my ankle a bit is all.” I hoped to God he hadn’t seen the heat creeping over my cheeks.

He squatted down and felt around my ankle joint; my nerve endings started to hum with enough current to light up The Quarter. When he brushed a thumb over the sensitive skin on the inside of my ankle, heat washed through me and an ache kindled to life low in my abdomen. I bit down hard on my bottom lip, closed my eyes trying to get a grip.

“It doesn’t look bruised. Maybe a little swollen, though. I’m gonna lift your foot up.”

I lurched forward, grabbing his solid shoulders, and immediately had the urge to run my hands over their width, so broad and defined, warm and heavy under my palms. More heat, more ache, as I struggled with the impulse to run my fingers around to his nape and through the jet-black stubble shorn tight to his scalp.

Get a grip, Avery.

“You should put some ice on it to be safe.” He set my foot down, looked up with piercing eyes, and a new rush of dirty images flooded my overactive imagination. Slowly, he stood, giving me time to regain my balance, and my fingers grazed over his chest.

I thought I heard an intake of breath, but I was too busy looking at the tiny nipples pearled against his shirt. “Um, thanks. Not for the sprain, for the advice.”

“You guys staying here?”

“Nope. We just like to hang out in hotel lobbies hoping random guys will hit us up for a double team.”

Eyes wide, his mouth fell open before a grin stretched over his lush lips.

Kat snorted, tried to stifle a giggle.

“Yes, we’re staying here, and that was a joke. I don’t do my girlfriends.” I was babbling. Great.

“That’s . . . kind of a shame, but good to know.” There was a shocked sort of delight on his face. Something told me surprising this guy was no easy task. He looked like the kind of dude who had done it all and posted bail. “Avery, right? Let me take you to dinner to make up for this.” He nodded at my ankle.

WHAT? Oh, of course. He didn’t want a date. He just felt guilty. Because dude was fuck-all hot and waaaay out of my league. I couldn’t help the disappointment that swept through my stomach. But God that voice––I savored the sound of my name on his lips and tried not to show how it affected me.

“Thanks, umm . . .”

“Declan.”

“Thanks, Declan, but that’s not necessary. It was an accident and I shouldn’t have popped off so fast. Really, it’s no big deal.” I heard Kat actually “eek.” When I cut a glance her way, she was intently studying the leaves of the fake ficus next to us.

“C’mon. Let me take you to dinner, Avery. It’s the least I can do.” Head cocked to the side with a challenging grin pulling at his lips, he crossed thick arms over his chest and his shirt raised enough that I could see the tops of those muscles that really hot guys always had at their hips. The ones that point at their junk like the sign over the entrance to the roller coaster at Six Flags that said, “Come Ride the Texas Giant!”

My eyes closed with an extended blink and I bit the inside of my cheek as I tried to get a grip.

“No, really––” I started.

“Yes! She’d love to go!” Kat cut in, nearly squealing.

Declan slid her a quick wink, then his emerald green eyes danced with laughter as he met mine.

“We have a reservation this evening, remember?” I shot daggers at her with my eyes.

“Actually, this is perfect. I wanted to meet a grad school friend for dinner, but she was only free tonight. You guys can take the reservation instead.”

“Kat,” I warned through clenched teeth. I didn’t need this guy’s pity.

“When’s the reservation?” Declan asked her, but his eyes stayed on me.

“Seven at Grand’Mère. Do you know it?”

He whistled. “Yeah.”

I exhaled, met green eyes that held a hint of challenge. If I backed down now, I’d feel like a coward. My badass turned up then and started beating at the insides of my chest, demanding I meet his challenge.

Fuck it. “Yeah, why not?” The words slipped through my mouth without further thought.

I watched him from behind, waiting for him to lift his drink, and as he put the glass to his lips, I shouldered him in the back. Dark liquor splashed on the bar in front of him.

“What the––” He swiped his T-shirt as he kicked his stool back and turned on me with a dangerous scowl.

“We’ll call it payback.” I let a slow smile play over my lips.

The scowl softened; his eyes warmed. Hands on his hips, he looked down at the wet spot on his shirt and turned hooded eyes on me with a sinful smirk.

“Well, if it isn’t bust-my-balls Avery.” His voice poured over me like whiskey down my throat, burning me from the inside out. Green eyes roamed over me lazily, lingered at my chest, my hips, and then back up to my face. “I wondered if you’d find your way here.”

“We wandered in, but it’s pretty great. The band isn’t too shabby either.” I winked while doing a body-roll in my head––I was flirting and doing it well.

He chuckled and the hair on my arms stood up. “Still bustin’ my balls. Looks like Jamie’s into her.” He nodded at our friends.

“All men are into Kat.”

Emerald green eyes cut back to me, and the scent of whiskey mingled with clean male sweat became a potent combo. “I’m not into Kat.” The intention was unmistakable. His brow lifted with a hint of challenge and a slow grin crept over his face.

My thigh muscles tightened, my center rubbing together with a tortured ache.

“You cold?”

“No. Why?” S***, can he see my nipples?

“You’ve got goose bumps on your arms.” He skimmed a finger over my forearm. I jolted and he bit down on his lip. “So, you owe me a drink, Avery.” He said my name as if it was the most important word in the sentence and he savored it in his mouth. Wrapping a muscled arm around my waist, Declan ushered me to his empty stool. When his warm palm splayed across my lower back, I fumbled for purchase, the ache in my belly growing more depraved as chills raced up my spine.

“I guess I do.” I caught the bartender’s eye and she started working toward me as I savored the feel of Declan’s body heat close to my back. I struggled not to arch, to feel him pressed up against me while I rode that jolt of whatever it was each time he touched me.

“Another for me and a refill for him.”

“Usual, Declan?” She looked over my head.

“Yeah.” His breath tickled my ear and I realized how close he was, tried to cover the shiver by shifting on the stool, but well-muscled and beautifully tattooed arms caged me in.

The bartender slid the glasses over. “Two Jamesons. One neat. One on the rocks.”

I looked at her wide-eyed and tried to pay, but she shook her head, looking past me. “Band’s on the house tonight,” she said with a sly smile before moving on. Declan scooped up his glass; his chest brushed my shoulder.

Jesus, there was that jolt again. Like the arc of static electricity followed by the brush of faux fur against sensitized skin.

I turned, watched as he put the glass to his mouth and sipped, sucked an ice cube between his lips, let it fall back into the glass as Joss Stone sang “I Put a Spell on You” through a nearby speaker. I’d bet that mouth was talented with more than a mic. I had a hard time forming structured thought when he did that.

His sexy half grin returned. He knew it, too. “A woman who takes her whiskey neat . . . Damn, Avery. That’s sexy.”

A blush crept along my cheekbones as I lifted my own glass to my lips.

I was in so much trouble.

“Have you ever had a threesome?” I asked him, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.

“Yes, I’ve had threesomes. Your turn. Did you like Matt flirting with you?”

Oh, he turned that around quick. I was beginning to think my little game of an answer–for–answer was a bad idea. “More than once? You’ve had threesomes, not a threesome?”

“Yes, more than once. Now, answer me.”

I sighed. “Honestly, that boy is hotter than Texas in August; I’d be lying if I said different, and I know dudes don’t admit other dudes are hot, but c’mon. Besides, it’s not really Matt who does it for me.”

The vibration from his laugh heated my skin. “I like the honesty.”

“Doesn’t it bother you to let him flirt with the women you’re with?”

Declan exhaled in a rush; some of the humor turned darker as he ran a knuckle over my cheek, and then let it fall away. “You didn’t seem upset by it. Flustered maybe.” He pulled the sheet down, under my breast. “Did you enjoy it?”

Oh, he turned that one around quick, too. “Declan . . .”

“Yeah, you just told on yourself.” Surprisingly, he grinned.

I blew out another breath, pushing fingertips against my eyelids while I tried to tug the sheet back up. Declan pulled it right back down.

“You’re both easy on the eyes, okay? But it’s the contrast between the two of you that fascinates me. You, all dark with your sexy badassness.” I skated my nails over the script on his abdomen, making his muscles tighten. “And Matt is all light and sweet eye candy. With you, I expected the dark, but not the gentleman, and he’s the boy next door hiding a tainted soul. I’m captivated with the juxtaposition––the visuals, even. For a girl who likes visuals . . .” I sighed, shook my head. “I don’t know. Maybe I have a split personality.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because I’m drawn to both dark and light. Demon and angel . . . tattoos and dimples,” I added with a weak smile. “It goes beyond people. You should see my apartment. Order and chaos and no in between.”

“The buttoned-up engineer who always has her guard up, and the hard-hitting rocker chick who likes to flash the crowd on Bourbon Street.”

I gave him a reluctant grin. “I don’t know. I guess I feel like I’ve lost sight of who I am for who I’m supposed to be.” I shook my head, disappointed with myself.

“You know,” Declan said, pushing the sheet past my thighs, “the real Avery is somewhere between the sinner and saint. The sexy woman who likes dirty talk, and the engineer with her blueprints. You’ve got your own dark side, sweetness, and you spend a lot of time and energy trying to keep it hidden.”

“Is that so?” An angry edge crept into my voice. It was a little too you know what your problem is? for me. “You know, assholery is contagious, Declan. Don’t call me on my crap if you aren’t prepared to have yours thrown in your face.”

His lips split in a slow grin as he wrapped a hand over my ribs and pushed me back against the mattress. “See? There she is again. Don’t get angry. It’s . . . I see you in there, Avery. Struggling to keep that dark all locked up. The real Avery is the one whose mouth works faster than her brain. She doesn’t understand why it’s not okay to be smart and have a great rack.” Declan crawled over me, nudging my legs apart. “She likes to watch other people have sex and has excellent taste in footwear. There’s nothing wrong with craving the dark and the light, sweet. You don’t have to choose. You have to find balance.”

Declan pushed up on his hands above me, nestled his hips between my legs, and the last of my anger evaporated as I arched in invitation.

“You make me insatiable,” I whispered, eyelids gone heavy.

“No. It’s always been there.” He sank his tongue into my mouth in a quick swipe. “You just don’t have to hide it from me.”

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