NEW Cover for TEXT APPEAL
By New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Lexi Ryan
Note from Lexi:
Almost three years ago, I was working full time as an English
professor and learning how much a one- and five-year-old could keep me on my
toes. I knew my life was full and that I was a lucky duck who had all she ever
needed (and most of what she wanted), but I just couldn’t let go of this dream
of “making it” as a writer. I had a couple books published with a small press
but my low sales numbers were never going to help me to become a full-time
writer, and that was my dream.
Despite my insane to-do list and already full plate, I
decided to dive into self-publishing. Text
Appeal was my first self-published novel and it was originally released in
June of 2012. It was the first big step in a journey that truly changed my
life.
Although I loved the original hot guy cover, it was time to
give the book a fresh look that better matches my brand. I love this cover so
much and the book even more. Who can resist a bad boy poker player who’s
determined to get his girl?
Adult Contemporary Romance
Originally published June 2012
Charlie 'The Devil'
Singleton is the face of professional poker. Notorious for playing cards and
women, Charlie's ready to change his ways, and the surprisingly sexy texts he's
getting from Riley are making him bet everything...on her.
Riley Carter is nothing like the hotel heiresses
who make the news. A girl who's determined to run her father's hotel empire
can't share many traits with women who fill the gossip rags. But 'The Devil'
has a way of tempting even the best behaved girls.
When Riley discovers the naughty messages on her
cell have been coming from Charlie, not her would-be fiancé, she falls into a
hot affair with the last man she expected. But consorting with the notorious
bad boy puts her hard-won reputation on the line. Is Charlie worth more to her
than a little TEXT APPEAL?
They were in
the elevator. And it was moving. They were in a small, moving elevator. They
were in a very small, moving elevator and she didn’t know how long they’d been
here and how much longer it would take. Had they stalled?
Charlie
cleared his throat and loosened her grip on his jacket. “Not that I’m
complaining about having you this close to me,” he whispered, his breath hot
against her ear. “In fact, I could get used to it.”
She was
glued to him, she realized vaguely, but she couldn’t contemplate moving. Not
until those doors opened.
“It’s just,
Riley, baby, if you’re going to have your body this close to mine, I want you
to be looking desperately at me, not
a pair of elevator doors. Do you have any idea what that does to a guy’s ego?”
She frowned.
“I’m not worried about your ego,” she muttered.
“Hey.” He
was stroking her back, soft circles between her shoulder blades. “You’re
shaking.”
“I prefer
the stairs,” she whispered.
“Close your
eyes.”
She shook
her head, staring at the doors. Like Charlie had promised, the elevator was
glass, and that relieved a little of her claustrophobia. If they got stuck,
people would be able to see they were inside. They’d be okay. Someone would
come help them.
The
elevator’s second ding signaled their
arrival, and the doors slid open to the famous bustling kitchen of the French
restaurant she’d always been curious about but never visited.
The maître
d’ smiled. “Reservations?”
“Singleton,”
Charlie said. And just like that, they were being led out of that death trap of
an elevator and to their table.
When the
concierge pulled out a chair for her, Riley gasped at the view. Their seats
were right next to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the
eleven-story-high view of the fountains at the Bellagio.
“Will the
heights bother you?” Charlie asked in a whisper.
She shook
her head and slid into her chair, angling it strategically so she wouldn’t miss
a second of the vision outside the window. “It’s beautiful.”
The
concierge placed a leather-bound menu before her. She opened it and gaped.
Quick mental calculations told her a basic meal here could more than pay for
her next shopping spree at Fredrick’s. When she looked up, Charlie was studying
her.
“You’re
doing it again,” she said, feeling her cheeks warm.
“Doing
what?” Charlie asked, eyeing her over his menu.
Flames of
heat licked higher in her cheeks. She wished she was one of those women with a
cute flush, but hers pinkened her whole face. She leaned forward and lowered
her voice to a whisper. “You’re looking at me like I’m the sprinkles on a
brownie sundae.”
His gaze
dropped to her mouth, then the little of her body not hidden behind the table.
Though she was covered by a black, high-necked number she’d chosen for modesty,
the heat in his eyes made her feel exposed. His focus shifted back to her mouth
before he said, “Sweetheart, you’re the whole damn sundae, and I am more than
ready for dessert.”
-------------------------------------
New York Times and USA
Today bestselling romance
author Lexi Ryan’s novels have been described as intense, emotional, and
wickedly sexy. A former college professor, she now writes full-time from her
home in Indiana, where she lives with her husband, two children, and a neurotic
dog. Find her on Facebook or Twitter to chat about books, TV, and her
children’s latest antics.
