Not everything is as it seems-Hard as Stone by @SarahORourke99 #Giveaway

August 07, 2014

to Read (

Words)

Nestled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, the beautiful town of Paradise is the perfect place to raise a family, have dinner at the local diner...and chase a ruthless killer.

Jacob Stone is an undercover DEA Agent dead-set on getting vengeance for his sister’s death. When his sources tell him that the drug dealer he’s been searching for will soon be setting up a distribution center in the seemingly innocent town of Paradise, he moves in for the kill.

What Jake wasn’t counting on, however, was falling in love with gorgeous Harmony McKinnon – the ex-wife of the man he was determined to eliminate.

Harmony McKinnon never believed she’d find love again....not after the horrors she lived through with her ex-husband. When she meets secretive Jacob Stone and soon falls in love, she never expected that her life would be in danger again...or that the man she’d come to trust would betray her.

Can Jake make Harmony understand his motives? Can Harmony trust him in spite of the past? Will they have their happily ever after?

Not everything is as it seems in the sleepy, little town of Paradise, Tennessee!

Hard as Stone is the second book in the Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnon Sisters Series, but is a stand-alone novel (165,000 words) that can be easily read without reading the first book.

Safe Version; all rights reserved

Meeting Jake’s eyes as she reached the bottom of the stairs, Harmony felt her heart jump into her. He looked delicious. No, he was beyond delicious, she decided quickly with a slow blink of her eyes.

Jacob Stone was YUMMY with extra emphasis placed on the YUM. Completely freaking edible, her libido sang joyously as her girly parts did a happy little dance beneath her dress.

Dressed in a fitted, collared black dress shirt that clung to his sides and his normal tight fitting jeans, he stood with his legs braced slightly apart, a bouquet of tulips clutched in one manly hand. Tonight, he’d traded the motorcycle boots for tan Justin boots, and he’d obviously shaved his handsome face, leaving only a shadow of his whiskers behind. Swallowing, she forced herself to smile and offer a low, breathless “Hi, Jake,” in greeting.

She could feel his warm gaze caress her as his eyes slowly slid over her face and down her body. Her heartbeat noticeably shifted into overdrive when his hooded eyes seemed to stall over the low bodice covering her breasts before leisurely moving down her legs. Before she realized it, he’d moved to stand in front of her, and even with her standing in heels a step above him, he towered over her.

Licking her lips quickly as she felt his wide palms reach out and grip her hips, pulling her toward him, she stumbled slightly. Bracing her hands against his solid chest, she caught herself against him, enjoying the feel of his muscles jumping beneath her fingertips.

“You look beautiful.” His deep voice rumbled against her ear as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against her cheek. “Glad you decided to let me cook for you tonight. I’d really hate sharing this view with anybody else,” he murmured for her ears alone. “With you in that dress, I’d be beating the men back with a stick and probably spend my night in Zeke’s lockup.”

“I seriously doubt that.” Harmony laughed self-consciously even as she felt herself warm under the glow of his flattery. She wasn’t used to compliments like that. She’d had exactly one serious relationship, and it hadn’t exactly been filled with praise.

“You shouldn’t, darlin’. You’re gorgeous,” Jacob replied, taking a small step back and pulling her off the last step. “These are for you,” he stated, passing her the arrangement of long stemmed tulips.

“Jake, you didn’t need to do that,” Harmony whispered, taking the flowers from him and running a finger over the delicate petals. She loved tulips. Now how did he ever know that?

“When a man gets lucky enough to take a pretty woman like you out for the evening, then he damn well should show up with flowers, Harmony. If he doesn’t, you kick his ass to the curb.”

Sexy Excerpt; all rights reserved

Harmony’s fingers curled around the corded tendons in his shoulders, hanging on tightly as his fingertips trailed lower across her quivering abdomen just above the elastic band of her panties. “Jake, hurry” she begged when his fingers merely plucked at the elastic at the waist of her underwear, popping it against her hot skin.

“I feel like I’m unwrapping a gift that I waited my entire life to receive,” he whispered against her breast, nipping a turgid rosy nipple with his teeth and pulling a low whine from his woman’s throat. “Did you really think I wasn’t gonna savor every single minute of this, baby? You’ve kept me hard as stone for weeks, dreaming of having you underneath me in my bed. This isn’t gonna be a hurried little encounter that I’ll let you sweep under the rug after we’re done. Nah, I’m gonna take my sweet time and make damn sure you remember every second in my arms. I’m gonna love you so well that you won’t be able to think of anything but the next time you can crawl in my bed and feel my hands all over this gorgeous body again. I’m gonna make you crave me as much as I do you, Harmony.”

Harmony panted against Jake’s neck as his dark words built a feverish need inside her. She could feel his calloused fingertips sliding down the crease of her thigh, hooking in the gusset of her panties and tugging firmly. She audibly gasped when she heard the thin material rip and tear. “You tore my panties off,” she choked, shocked by his ardor.

“Mmmmm, can’t eat your candy if it’s still in the wrapper, darlin’,” he returned, unworried by her stunned surprise at his action as he blew a heated breath against her stomach. Kissing a path across her belly, he nipped her hip before lifting the slick material he’d torn off her to his nose and deeply inhaling her heady feminine scent. “These panties are soaked with your cream, baby. A man could get high off a smell this sweet. I can’t wait to see how you taste.”

Sarah O'Rourke is the alter ego of two best friends who have taken their passion for romantic fiction and erotica to the publishing world. Born and raised in the southern United States, one lives near Louisville, KY, while the other resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Neither is ever very far from a tall glass of sweet iced tea, their dog-eared copies of Gone With the Wind, or their Steel Magnolias DVDs!

Formerly an accountant and a chemist, they are now overworked, stay-at-home moms who adore their children, their husbands...and writing about love in every way possible!