Author: Lydia Michaels
Colin McCullough has always known the path his life would take and at summer’s end he will finally make his Holy Orders. But what should have been a relaxing summer in the mountains with his large Irish family turns into an interlude plagued with temptation the moment his brother brings home the enchanting Samantha Dougherty.
When Samantha agrees to spend her summer break with Braydon McCullough she soon realizes his intentions are not what they seemed. While coping with Braydon’s assumptions that they are in a relationship, Samantha’s vacation only becomes more complicated when she meets his older brother, Colin, the soon to be priest! What was intended to be a peaceful holiday turns into an unforgettable experience of loyalty, lust, sacrifice, courage, and love.
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Title: SKIN (Book Two)
Author: Lydia Michaels
When Finnegan McCullough gets a flat tire he bumps into a woman he’s never seen before. After a stern lecture on trespassing, he offers her a ride and a friendship takes shape. Mallory Fenton is unlike any girl he’s ever met. She’s funny, sexy as hell, and sweet as pie, but she doesn’t see herself that way.After literally crashing into Finnegan McCullough, Mallory is a hot, tongue-tied, mess. A true lumberjack, he wears his flannel well and possesses the sexiest smile she’s ever had thrown her way. Unfortunately, men like that don’t look at girls like her. When Finn confesses his desire to be more than friends, Mallory is shocked. After years of being the ‘fat girl’ she knows better than to believe a man like Finn could ever find her attractive. But she’s gotten under his skin and Finn is determined to show Mallory how beautiful she truly is.
A realistic and heartwarming romance that proves love and beauty come in all shapes and sizes.
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Title: Chaste (Book Three)
Author: Lydia Michaels
Release Date: February 3, 2014
Kelly McCullough has always gotten every woman he’s wanted. Of all the McCullough men, his charm and magnetism is unmatched. However, there is one woman he cannot have.
Ashlynn Fisher is everything Kelly McCullough is not. She is quiet, shy, and—above all—virginal. After losing her heart to Kelly in grade school, no other man compares. Paths cross and temperance is put to the test when Ashlynn decides it’s time for her to find love. Kelly offers Center County’s sweetest brown-eyed girl all the guidance he can, but finds himself in a situation he never expected to face. Through chaste kisses and stolen secrets, his virility is tested and he must learn what love truly means as his selfish ways are transformed in the face of a selfless need to give her everything she wants
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Secret Cravings
About the author:
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.Lydia Michaels loves to here from readers! She can be found of Facebook or contacted by email at Lydia@LydiaMichaels.org
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SKIN Excerpt
Shaky fingers unzipped her boots and she stepped out of them, shrinking three inches. She undid her jeans and slid them off her legs. Taking a deep breath, she removed her shirt and folded it on the corner of the sink.
It wasn’t easy to face her reflection, but with a slow turn she pivoted. Opening her eyes she tried to see herself, truly see her, the way Finn would see her. Her breasts were displayed in a satin, black bra, supported in a way they didn’t naturally sit. Her stomach curved in wrong places and her belly button was a crease rather than the petite hole that a super model might show off.
The black lace of her boy shorts scalloped the pouch of her stomach, making her, again, appear more feminine than she actually was. She would not start berating herself, not now when this was going to happen.
Her fingers unclasped her bra and away went the support and down fell her breasts. Her nipples darkened and tightened in the cool air. She had nice nipples, not to big and not too small. Not too dark and not too pink.
Her gaze landed on the jagged white scars stretching over her breast. She’d started getting stretch marks when she was a teenager. No amount of lotion or magic cream took them away and she, for the most part, tried to ignore them. Maybe he would ignore them too.
Her head bowed as she slid off her panties. There she was, as naked as the day she was born. Wide hips creased by gravity made it difficult to notice the small patch of soft, brown curls at her apex.
Her gaze flowed over her reflection and took note of her better qualities. Her nails were painted and filed neatly. Her makeup was subtle, but nice. Her hair was long and natural in color. For some reason, it became important for her to show him exactly who she was. There would be no veils or facades, not tricks of beauty or accessories to distract the eye. It was all or nothing. If he wanted her, that was exactly who he was going to get.
She emerged from the bathroom wearing only her robe. Her breath caught when she saw him sitting on the bed in only his jeans, his bare chest showing in the soft lamplight from the nightstand. He was stunning.
A fine trail of golden, brown hair ran over his abs, disappearing behind the unbuttoned snap of his jeans. On the nightstand she spotted the infamous box of condoms. Funny, not until that moment did it actually register that she was going to have sex. The physical act was second hand to all the emotional repercussions.
She hadn’t had sex in years. She almost forgot what it felt like. Chills skated up her spine as she drew the slow epiphany that whatever he was hiding in those jeans was going to be inside of her very soon.
She smiled and he reciprocated the gesture. With slow steps she walked into the bedroom. Taking one last look at the beautiful man sitting on her bed, her fingers went to the switch on the wall and extinguished the light.
Darkness settled on the room for only a second and then a soft click came from the bed as Finn leaned over and turned on the nightstand lamp. He slowly shook his head, telling her there would be no hiding.
Having her body displayed in light where unfavorable shadows could be cast was not a comforting thought. But the look in his eyes told her the idea of seeing her without shields was very favorable to him. She nodded in acceptance and he whispered, “Thank you.”
Her feet carried her slowly to the bed. Standing at the foot, she struggled with the tie of her robe. He stood and met her at the foot of the bed, touching her hands softly, stilling her motions.
She let out a shaky breath as he took over the knot and whispered, “Let me.”
Shutting her eyes, she nodded as the terrycloth lapels were drawn apart. He sucked in an audible breath and said, “Gorgeous.”
She bit her tongue so as to not object to the compliment and gentle fingers tipped up her chin. Soft lips pressed into hers and she shivered. The heat of his body covered her front as he stepped even closer.
Tender lips coaxed her mouth open as he kissed her softly. Their heads tilted and her body warmed.
Strong hands cupped her breasts as his thumb dragged over her nipples. Her body tightened as he deepened the kiss.
The backs of his knuckles caressed her stomach causing her to slightly suck in a breath. He teased at the soft curls at her apex and she whimpered.
“I love your body,” he said against her lips.
CHASTE Excerpt
His body nudged closer. She sucked in a breath and tried to focus on speaking, but the press of him was incredibly distracting.
“That’s the…um…” She caught her breath. “Um…” Her eyes shut. What was the question? “I can’t concentrate when you touch me,” she blurted.
He didn’t move. His breath tickled the back of her neck, as the soft press of his tongue traced over the curve leading to her shoulder. Her spine stretched as her skin drew tight. His lips made a smooching sound. “Mmm, you taste like hard work and sunshine.”
“Kelly…” she rasped, silently panting. Her insides vibrated so rapidly she worried she’d shatter into a thousand pieces of flesh and bones. Never had anyone aroused her the way he did.
He nuzzled her ear with his nose. “Have I ever told you how sexy you are? The glasses make me crazy. And I love the way your hair looks different every day. You remind me of a little garden nymph.” The weight of his palms closed over her baggy overalls, low on her hips, and she grew aware of every part of her body.
His lips sealed over her ear and she quivered, her body tightening and trembling. Her hands gripped the edge of the worktable with her leather-clad fingers, her knees turning unstable, as he proceeded to do wonderful things to her earlobe.
It amazed her that he found her hair nice. She’d cut it off after she graduated, finding the long locks dreadfully annoying. When her hair had been long it was always in her face. And she wore glasses because contacts were too much trouble with the dust from the gardens.
Oh my goodness! Is that his tongue in my ear?
Her knees buckled as he kissed over her racing pulse. Strong fingers dug into her hips, massaging beneath her overalls deep into her flesh. His hands had slipped into the gaping sides of her clothes where her tank top met the waist of her panties. No one had ever touched her so intimately.
“Let’s go inside,” he whispered.
Somehow she managed to shake her head. “I…I need to finish this.”
“Ashlynn…”
His mouth. He had a wicked mouth. She formed some sort of response in her throat as the tip of his finger toyed with the hem of her tank top next to her navel.
“Please…let me in,” he whispered as his tongue traveled over the slope of her shoulder, each word an erotic tattoo on her flesh.
Her feet shifted and his grip tightened. She whimpered. “Kelly, please…”
His whisper had faded to a breath of words. “I want you.”
Her hands closed over his, tightening, stilling his progress. Those last uttered words returned some of her common sense. “If we go inside my work will never get done.”
His fingers squeezed. “Do you know how many fantasies I’ve had about you? The things I could do to you without breaking your vow…” His touch never traveled, but the teasing chills escaping his whirling fingers seemed to go right to her breasts.
Baiting temptation, she breathed out a question she had no business asking. “Like what?”
“Mmm. I could spend days stripping you, unveiling every bit of flesh, anointing each square inch of skin with soft kisses. Only kissing, Ashlynn, but I’d kiss you everywhere.”
Holy Hannah, she needed to put some space between them. They hadn’t discussed boundaries and the line of her virtue was becoming more blurred by the second. Her breath stuttered out of her lungs as his mouth teased over her pulse. She wanted to know what such kisses would feel like, but feared her control would break.
“No naked.” Incapable of forming complete sentences, it was the best she could do.
“Touching?” he whispered.
Oh, God. She wanted to feel his touch, know what it was to be caressed by those strong fingers holding her now. She whimpered. Her promise had never been this difficult. There had never been such a temptation as Kelly and, now, with his hands playing over untried parts of her body, came a nagging desire for relief. “I should say no.”
“But?”
“Maybe.”
His front pressed into her bottom and her neck gave out, drooping her head to his broad shoulder. He growled and his mouth sealed to her throat, his hand sifting under the front of her overalls and holding her stomach, fingers splayed wide, pressing her into his hard form. “So fucking sexy, Ashlynn.”
“Kelly…”
“I want to go inside.”
He was already inside, inside of her head, in her blood, thrumming through her veins, inside every breath filling her lungs. She worried she could die from such over stimulation. She’d never survive sex, at least not with this man. But that was off the table.
Her muscles contracted and strange urges had her body fluttering in unfamiliar ways. It was too much. “No more,” she pleaded and he froze.
It took him a second to answer. “Okay.”
His hand slithered out from under her overalls and he stepped away. She caught her breath and wiped the back of her glove over her heated cheek. She was probably as red as a bell pepper.
She desperately searched for her bearings, but Kelly seemed fine. From the corner of her eye, she watched him slip his gloves back on and pick up the sanding block as she quietly panted. The longing inside of her had transformed into a painful ache. Her throat was thirsty, parched. Yet water did nothing to quench her yearning.
Kelly worked with precision and efficiency. Her concentration was crap. Every move she made was deliberate and clumsy, but Kelly proved to be a master carpenter. She suspected he wanted to be done with the chore and that scared her, because the moment they finished she’d have to come up with another distraction.
The echo of the nail hammering into the wood rattled through the air. “How far can we go, Ashlynn?”
Her hand stilled. Her gaze focused on the head of the nail she’d been about to hammer into the wood. Swallowing repetitively, she struggled to find the honest answer, but the truth seemed to abandon her in that moment. “I don’t know.”
