by Tara Quan
I probably should start by admitting I’m an only child. And yes, it shows. I’m as spoiled as they come, though age has tempered my brat tendencies somewhat. I’ve always wanted a sibling, but since I was a super-late surprise baby, Santa never dropped off a playmate during his various trips from the North Pole.
So I had a lot of motivation
growing up to give my characters little sisters (sorry, gentlemen—back in the
day, all boys were enemies). When it came to writing A Witch’s Night Out, creating a smartass sibling for my heroine in Flirting with Fire served several
purposes. Though perpetually short on funds, Dulcina “Sweets” Gato nonetheless paid
for Catalina’s 1Night Stand, which kicked off my series. She also injected some
much-needed humor, and served as a pivotal side-character in the series’ second
book, Frosty Relations.
As maybe the case for many baby
sisters, Sweets soon demanded her fair share of the spotlight. And thus the
third installment of my paranormal romantic comedy line
was born. In Fireworks at Midnight, this
destitute college graduate experiences the highs and lows of financial
independence, kicks some serious ass, and spends much of the book avoiding her
best friend’s big brother, a warlock cop named Mikal Knight.
With the aid of supernatural
mayhem and our mysterious matchmaking service, this meddlesome witch gets a storm-filled
1Night Stand of her own. You can find out all about it in Fireworks at Midnight, now available at all major eBook retailers.
To help kick off the new year,
I’m giving away a $15 gift card. To enter, leave a comment here and drop your
details in the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of this post (or at my
website: TaraQuan.com/FireworksAtMidnight)
Fireworks
at Midnight
A Witch’s Night Out book 3
Recent college graduate and
part-time cat familiar Dulcina “Sweets” Gato is having the worst New Year’s Eve
in living memory. End of year expenses trigger serious cash flow problems, and
her microwave just went up in smoke. To make matters worse, her best friend’s
overprotective big brother is back in town, and his return threatens to put a
huge crimper on her nocturnal activities. The only thing she can look forward
to is Madame Eve’s 1-Night Stand service. After all, she’s sick and tired of
being a 21-year-old virgin.
Enforcement Agent Mikal Knight
is a warlock on a mission. Having finally scored a transfer to Washington,
D.C., he’s now at liberty to pursue the object of his desires—his baby sister’s
best friend. But first, he has a vigilante to track down and a mysterious
matchmaking service to investigate. Sent on an undercover operation, he resigns
himself to a pointless 1-Night Stand on New Year’s Eve. As luck would have it,
his mystery date’s identity might let him kill several birds with one stone.
Genre:
Paranormal Romantic Comedy, Interracial/Multicultural
Globetrotter,
lover of languages, and romance author, Tara Quan has an addiction for crafting
tales with a pinch of spice and a smidgen of kink. Inspired by her travels,
Tara enjoys tossing her kick-ass heroines and alpha males into exotic
contemporary locales, paranormal worlds, and post-apocalyptic futures. Her
characters, armed with magical powers or conventional weapons, are guaranteed a
suspenseful and sensual ride, as well as their own happily ever after. Learn
more at:
www.taraquan.com
www.taraquan.com
Excerpt
“Need a boost, Dulcina?”
His continued use of that
god-awful name baffled her. Even her parents and sister had switched to calling
her Sweets, but this guy couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the preference.
Of course, the three syllables somehow gained a hint of sexiness when he said
it in that Southern drawl. The word rolled off his tongue with a lilting
musicality that appealed to some traitorous part of her psyche, the unwelcome
effect getting on her nerves in a big way.
On top of that, the weird
physical reaction she had to his mere presence irritated her. Ever since she’d
hit puberty, being within five feet of the boy she’d known all her life—one
who’d since grown into a gorgeous twenty-five-year-old man—did weird shit to
random body parts. Her cheeks burned, her breath quickened, her palms got
sweaty, and her heart rate turned erratic. The smug grin he wore, along with
the patronizing tone he’d used, earned her best friend’s half sibling a
temporary place on Sweets’ list of least-favorite uninvited guests.
“You’re blocking my view.”
“You’re blocking my view.”
He offered his hand. “Of what?”
“Water damage.” Before she
could accept his assistance, the empty space between them distorted.
Transparent, flickering waves created a blur, as if two realities had shifted
out of sync. Frozen in place by the premonition’s onslaught, she watched a
version of herself meet his palm with her own. Their fingers twined, and he
hoisted her up too fast. When she crashed into his chest, his arms lowered to
circle her waist.
He drew her closer. She tilted
her head back and parted her lips. A storm brewed in the depths of his
almost-black eyes, coloring them with swirls of white and gray. A light furrow
formed between his brows, certainty and possession lending his face a dangerous
edge.
Alarm bells ringing in her
ears, she blinked away the vision and clenched her hands into fists. Keeping
them at her sides, she did a full sit-up. Talk about a close call. “Thanks for
taking care of the smoke. It even smells nice in here now.”
Lines bracketed the sides of
his mouth. He scrutinized her through narrowed eyes, as if he somehow suspected
she’d altered their course. “No problem.”
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