Title: Hold Me Fast {McCullough Mountain 7}
Author: Lydia Michaels
Genre: Romance
Heat Level: Romance (graphic)
Book Length: 258 pages
Date of Publication: August 10, 2015
(Please
Note: ARCs can be provided for previous titles in a series upon
request)
Cover
Blurb:
It’s more than a mountain.
It’s a love story generations long.
Maureen O’Leahey
has always hoped for a family to love, but with so many men returning from a
lost war, she finds life to be a bit less romantic than expected—until she
stares in to the blue eyes of Frank McCullough. Though the odds are against
them, Frank and Maureen can’t seem to keep their distance. Against her father’s
wishes, Maureen falls for the boy trying so hard to make it as a man and Frank
fights to keep every promise made to the fiery red head that’s captured his
heart.
During difficult
times, they find solace in each other. As Frank struggles to do right by his
young bride and Maureen aches to be a good wife, they are taught the true value
of patience and shown the strength of unconditional love in this memorable
story of a devoted Irishman and an untamable woman with a remarkable spirit.
Book Trailer:
The trailer for Hold Me Fast {McCullough
Mountain 7} can be found at:
Buy Links:
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Excerpt:
“When’s that birthday
of yours, love?”
She frowned. “July
twenty-fifth. Why?” Was he planning on getting her a present?
He nodded, making a
masculine sound in his throat. “I’d like to get my lips on you before then,
lassie.”
Appalled, she turned
and scowled at him. “And that is how you ask? I’d like a lot of things, Frank,
mostly, to meet a man who knows how to ask a woman for favors. And if that is
why you’re waitin’ for my birthday you can just forget it. I’m saving myself
for marriage.”
Every trace of
cockiness fled his face as her words sank in. Oh Christ. She wasn’t
necessarily saving shit, but it pissed her off that he’d assume the calendar
was all that was holding him up from gettin’ into her knickers.
“I wasn’t… I hadn’t
meant to insinuate—”
“Don’t try
backtracking now. I know what you meant.” It was like her mouth had
disconnected from her brain and there was no stopping her words.
Like a runaway train,
she’d unleashed on him. “You think I have nothin’ better to do than wait around
so you can legally take my virginity? You can think again, Mr. McCullough. I
have standards and they aren’t the sort that crumble for some blue eyed,
silver-tongued Irishman wantin’ to put his lips on me. I’ll be expectin’ a
gentleman, next time I see you, if your lips will be getting’ anywhere near
me—”
His mouth was suddenly
crushing hers as he pulled her halfway across the seat and cut off her words.
She’d never been kissed before, at least not like that. His hand cupped the
back of her head as his mouth slanted and his tongue pressed deep, teasing and
awakening parts of her she’d rather ignore. Her eyes held wide as his other
hand fit around her thigh and massaged through the fabric of her skirt.
“You talk entirely too
much, Maureen O’Leahey,” he whispered against her lips. “I’m thinkin’ it’s high
time a man shut you up in a way you found acceptable.”
He kissed her again
and her chest lifted, her nipples tightening as heat pulled in her stomach and
a strange pressure set her insides on fire.
“No,” she mumbled as
his hand slowly rubbed higher on her thigh. Pulling back as that hand steadily
crept to a place she strongly considered off limits to others, she did the
first thing she could manage and smacked him across the jaw.
The sharp slap left
the car in dark silence. Quietly, he chuckled. “You really are something.”
“I told you,” she
said, out of breath. “You’ll need to be a gentleman to get your lips on me.
Buyin’ me dinner doesn’t prove shit.”
The side of his mouth
kicked up in a half-smirk. “You sure got a mouth on you, woman.”
She liked being called
woman, considering she was only seventeen. “And wouldn’t you like to see all
the things it can do.”
His half-smirk turned
into a full smile as he laughed. “Well, look at you. You’re tongues as sharp as
mine is silver. You better be gettin’ home before real trouble finds you. Tomorrow’s
a big day.”
That was right.
Tomorrow she was graduating. Funny how such a monumental achievement paled in
comparison to being kissed by Frank McCullough.
“Good night, love,” he
said, cracking open the door.
“Frank?” He stilled
and she took a second to process her sudden insecurities.
He paused, still
facing the door. “Yes, Maureen?”
“The kiss… did I do it
okay?”
His head tilted as he
again faced her. “Have you not been kissed before?”
“Never like that,” she
whispered, her fingers tracing where his mouth had been.
He slid back inside
the car and turned to the windshield, pulling his lower lip in for a taste. A
quiet chuckle escaped, but he didn’t seem amused. “You’re that innocent then?”
“Never mind,” she
immediately said, wishing she’d never opened her mouth—for anything.
“No, it’s fine. I
shouldn’t have assumed…” he shook his head. “A gentleman indeed.” He laughed.
“I’m sorry I came on so strong, love, but when I’m around you, I lose sight of
right and wrong and all I can tell is that I want you.”
Her eyes widened as
she choked on her words. “Me?” That couldn’t be right.
His gaze turned on
her, his eyes appearing almost pained. “Aye, you. I think you’re bonny, smart,
funny, and I think about you naked every day.”
“Frank!”
“Sorry, but it’s true.
Your curves enchant me.”
Was that how men and
women spoke to one another? “I’ve never been naked in front of anyone but my
mum and my sisters.”
A smirk pulled the
corner of his mouth tight. “We could remedy that.”
She smacked his arm.
“Don’t be a pig.”
“I have a healthy
appetite for beautiful women, love. There’s nothin’ wrong with that.”
“Aye, well if your
wantin’ this woman you’ll lose your taste for all others, do you understand?”
“Aye.”
They were silent for
several minutes. She fidgeted as she waited for him to say more, but he didn’t.
Finally, she broke the silence. “What does this mean, Frank? People will talk
if they see us together.”
“It means I like you.”
“Like me? Why?”
He shrugged and
pointed to his chest. “It’s here, in the way my chest gets tight at just the
sight of you and I want to hold you fast, but never feel like we have enough
time.”
“Oh.” That was rather
sweet and more poetic than she’d expected. “Are you saying we’re…”
“I want you to be mine
for more than a minute.”
Lots of things were
longer than minutes but still quite short. “Are you askin’ to date me? I’m not
trying to be thick headed, but I’ve never much dated and…”
“Aye. I’m wantin’ you
to be mine, Maureen O’Leahy. Mine and only mine.”
Liquid heat swirled in
her belly as her veins pulsed with excitement. “I can’t let my parents know.”
“It’s no one’s
business.”
Insecurity made it
difficult to look in his direction. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing and
sound foolish. “I…I never much dated,” she repeated.
“Me neither.”
She laughed, still
finding that hard to believe. A thought occurred to her and she frowned. “I’ll
not have you hitting on other girls if you want to be with me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of
it.”
His gentle tone
retrieved a bit of her courage. “And I’m not easy. I’m not promising you a
thing, if you get what I mean.”
“Aye. It’ll keep.”
Shooting him a
sidelong glance, she snickered. “You seem certain I’m keepin’ it for you.”
“You are,” he said
with palpable cockiness.
Her mouth gaped at his
surety. “There’s something wrong with you.”
“To be sure, but I
speak the truth. I’ll have you, Maureen O’Leahey, make no mistake of that. I’ll
be a gentleman for you, as you’re deserving of such, but make no mistake, I’m a
man and I will not deny what I want no matter how long you deny me from gettin’
it.”
Author Bio:
Award winning
author, Lydia Michaels, writes all forms of hot romance. She presses the bounds
of love and surprises readers just when they assume they have her stories figured
out. From Amish vampyres, to wild Irishmen, to broken heroes, and heroines no
man can match, Lydia takes readers on an emotional journey of the heart, mind,
and soul with every story she pens. Her books are intellectual, erotic,
haunting, always centered on love.
Other Titles by Lydia Michaels:
Falling In
Breaking Out
Coming Home
Sacred Waters
Skin
Chaste
Faking It
Forsaking Truth
As Tears Go By
Hold Me Fast
Simple Man
Breaking Perfect
White Chocolate
All 4 You
To Catch a Wolfe
Chasing Feathers
Called to Order
Calling for a
Miracle
Destiny Calls
Call Her Mine
Blind (Coming
October 2015)
Release
Party at The Irish Rover August 15, 2015
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"Every
woman who is aroused by submission is also aroused by an alpha male who can
tame her. These women aren’t looking for a husband in the bedroom who will make
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