E-Reading After Midnight: Too Hot to Handle ~ Susan Arden ~ Blog Tour and Review

A random hookup too hot to handle? Never say never.

In a grueling game of cat-n-mouse with her step-uncle, it’s Margo’s move.

On the run, she does a body slide right into the arms of a recently discharged Marine. Outside of a crazy fling, there is zero room in her life for men. Distractions are dangerous to her health.

From working a fence line and dealing with cattle, Rod McLemore is thrust back into the line of duty. And he promptly fails. He crosses the line in a no-brainer mission: go and get the girl. On no hands is he prepared for Margo or her smart-mouth, right hook, and cargo to hide.

Margo and Rod are as volatile as flint and gunpowder. Bordering on taboo, their raw attraction is a recipe for disaster. Especially when the stakes are raised.

Their stormy love affair forces them over the edge and out of their comfort zones as they wrangle in-laws, Mother Nature, and a slick conman. A regular trial by fire. But a battle worth fighting means taking a stand and they'll do whatever it takes to stay together. Even if it means they have to lie, cheat, steal.
Or kill.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Margo Santero.
Riding in a rodeo with a pack of adrenaline-hyped cowboys isn't what it was cracked up to be. On the run since my mom died, I found out the hard way everyone has a price. And trust is a commodity. This isn't the lifestyle I want, but neither is the demented offer my step-uncle tosses my way. He ups the ante, threatening my horse, forcing me to bolt. One day I'll fix Axel for good. For now, I've gotta a run.

Rod McLemore.
She stormed into my life. A beautiful hurricane with dark secrets, blinding curves, and a smart-mouth I should kiss into submission. She's on the run and needs my help. Not that she listens. But if it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to make her mine. Even if it means I have to lie, cheat, deal with her horse from hell...
Or get out my M9. Won't be the first time I’ve pulled the trigger.

STORM WARNING: This is a seismic erotic romance, detailing a barely-legal runaway and a dirty-talking McLemore. If a fiercely protective aka alpha-male cowboy lights your fire, then you've come to the right ranch.

Amazon US ~ FREE on Kindle Unlimited

EXCERPT ONE

“Princess,” Axel’s viper voice whispered behind me, and I swung around as pinpricks of fear tattooed my skin.

With his slicked-back hair perfectly in place, he strolled out of the shadows, wearing a sneer. He lifted his hands encased in black leather gloves and shoved me back against the wall.

I clenched my jaw. No one was around and under his glare I fought to control my breathing. “Stop touching me,” I said hoarsely.

“Or what?” He cocked his head to the side and traced my cheek with a playing card.

“How about this?” Lurching forward, I went to rake the smirk off his face, but he caught and wrested my wrist down.

Up against me, Axel jabbed the card into my cheek, but I refused to cry out in pain. His pale skin glistened from sweat as cruelty flashed in his flat dark eyes. “Do you need a reminder of who calls the shots?” He tried to kiss me, but I turned my face to the side in disgust.

“Get off me,” I growled.

He didn’t relent and I couldn’t move him. In his mid-forties but unlike most men his age who sat in an office, he spent time boxing in a gym. And not just to keep in shape. He enjoyed pulverizing his opponents in an aggressive steroid induced rage—his sick little secret.

“Princess, you’ve got one more race. If you fail to win the championship, then I’ll foreclose on your father’s farm. Is that what you really want?” Axel dropped my wrist and the card abruptly. His hands moved to my neck as I stared, horror-struck by his latest threat. “Answer me, Margo.”

The pressure of his fingers increased around my neck, making it hard to breathe.

“No.” One word and it was all I could get out.

“Nate’s misfortune could disappear. I’ll cancel his debt—tonight. Set you up in an apartment. Ever been to Chicago?”

I knew what Axel desired. My defeat. My submission. He wanted to break me. Other riders and even arena workers had made the mistake of thinking his hot rods, hotel rooms, and shitty promises meant something. That something translated to agony revisited for days on end where girls wound up in the hospital with serious injuries like broken jaws or fractured ribs, or worse. They went missing. And no one talked or made a stink.

“Where are the clowns?” A handler yelled and Apollo nickered.

“Uh-oh,” I said, “Someone’s looking for you.”

Axel stared back at me. Or really at my chest. Leaning closer, he cursed and his hands started to shake as he held my head against the stable wall. “I can do anything I want to you. Right here and that old man you hang out with won’t raise a hand to help you. He’d watch, princess. You have no idea who you’re mouthing off to, but you’re going to find out. That horse of yours is a beauty. Same as you. But he can’t suck my cock can he?”

“You’re sick.”

“Say that now.” Releasing me, Axel laughed darkly. “But I’ll have you down on your knees the next time we meet if you don’t get your tits in line.”

“Stop threatening me.” I crossed my arms over my chest to escape his sickening leer.

“Then don’t disappoint me. I’d hate for Apollo’s leg to get busted. As insurance…”

EXCERPT TWO

Featuring Rod and his brother Cade. They’re two of three triplets. And Mia and Margo Santero, sisters.

We entered and didn’t make it past the foyer before Mia’s voice rang out as she rushed over. “Margo! Oh my God I can’t believe my eyes. Sis, you’ve grown up. Look at you.” Mia went from smiling to crying to laughing as they hugged. She noticed me and grinned. “Rod, I owe you. Thanks so much.”

“No problem. Glad to help.” I chuckled, my gaze flicking between them. My voice sounded as constrained as my locked-down desire to trace my fingers over Margo’s skin. Her smile tightened same as her shoulders, which she held fixed. Our eyes met, and I nodded, cocking my head toward her sister who had begun making introductions to family nearby.

Margo rolled her eyes at me and mouthed ‘help’ before she was shuttled away. Mia introduced her to everyone and I walked over to the bar in need of a stiff shot.

My brother appeared out of nowhere, sporting shoulder-length dreadlocks. “Heard you were called back into active duty,” Cade snorted.

After my double take over his hair, I frowned, narrowing my eyes. “Not exactly.”

“What are you up to tonight?” he questioned me, leaning against the bar and pulling the tab on a light beer.

“Are you really going to drink that? It tastes like piss.”

“I’m on contract as a body double. It’s my ass and abs on screen. It’s this or water. Back to you, got any plans around midnight?” He tipped the can to his lips, waiting on my reply.

“Look around.” I lifted my gaze to his. “We’re here.”

“Nuh. I mean later. I’ve got company. Two chicks. Here’s a preview.” He flashed his cell screen in my direction, displaying two naked women kissing and riding a double-headed dildo.

Shit. I pushed his hand out of my face. “Cade, there’s a thing called discretion. Ever heard of it?”

He laughed. “Not where these two girls are concerned.”

NOTE:

Mia is marrying Brandon McLemore. They are the couple from Collared By The Cowboy, Bad Boys #5. The best-selling red-hot romance, ranked #1 for humorous erotica, suspense, BDSM, and Western erotica.

Cade is the next bad boy hero in the series in Love You Harder, scheduled to release Spring 2016

Elizabeth's Review

3 to 3.5 stars - More than an average read
Review Copy provided by Author
I really struggled with how to rate this book. Ms. Arden is a new author for me and I felt like this was more than an average read (3 stars), but maybe not all the way to a 3.5 star read for me. Part of me wonders if it's because this is book 9 in a series and book 2 of a sub series. I wonder if having the back ground information from the other stories might have helped me a little bit.
Margo is a young woman caught between trying to help her family and a step-uncle who will never let the debt be paid off. Rod is a cousin to the man Margo's sister is marrying and has some issues/baggage of his own. These two connect before they realize who the other is and the connection is explosive. I really enjoyed Margo and Rod together, but would caution new readers to Ms. Arden's work that the sexy times are very steamy and the language rough. If that isn't for you, you may want to keep moving because not only are the sexy times steamy, they are plentiful!
As much as I enjoyed these two together and watching them both grow as individuals and a couple, there were things I struggled with. For starters, Margo's age. The situations she has lived through seem like an awful lot for someone barely 18. The other piece is just how clueless the people around Margo are, especially her father. The step-uncle is such a creep and I struggle with how her family could have let his abuses of power go one for so long.
Overall, this is a book I enjoyed and I am curious to see what happens for Rod's brother. Cade, in the next book.

Diversity in life is important to Susan. So much she obtained an MS Ed in TESOL. But the universe had other plans. From a classroom, she fell into a world filled with romance. Both real and fiction. Married the man standing behind her at Starbucks in Nashville. Yep, never can tell what life has in store. So if you doubt dreams can come true, ask her about how in falling she found the courage to jump and a pair of writer wings. She and her husband support several charity organizations including RAINN.org, Semper Fi Fund, Diversity In Books, and a robotics program for children.

She’s the author of the bestselling Bad Boy McLemore-alpha-cowboys series. If romance starring a rugged cowboy ignites your fire, then stay in touch via Susan's RED-HOT ROMANCE newsletter. Sign up for freebies, releases, and bad boy news!

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