Featured Author: Juli Page Morgan

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Juli Page Morgan!!!!

 

Athena's Daughter

 

 

Synopsis: 

Seven years ago Athena Hill made a hasty decision that hurt the two people she loves most, only they don't know it. Yet.

When Athena fell in love with up-and-coming rock guitarist Derek Marshall on her vacation to England, she thought the rest of her life was mapped out - marriage to Derek, a home in London, and a happily ever after. But an expired visa sends her back home to Memphis where she discovers she's pregnant. Believing Derek betrayed her after she left, she takes her sister's advice to keep the baby a secret from him.

Now Derek's band is at the top of the music charts, and he thinks he has it all. Until he walks into a record store in Memphis, Tennessee and sees the woman who shattered his heart. Shock turns to white hot anger when he learns about the child he never knew he had.

Now Athena’s daughter has the father she always wanted and needed, and Derek is overjoyed to have his child in his life. But as for Athena? Derek still treats her like someone he used to know. Can he forgive her for what she did, or has the past destroyed any chance of happiness with the man she still loves?

A 2014 RONE Award Nominee!

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: "A wonderfully emotional story where the characters leap off the page right into your heart!” – InD’Tale Magazine

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Excerpt:

She switched on the bedside lamp, and noted he was lying on his side facing away from her, the covers pulled up over his shoulders. All she could see was a tousle of dark hair, and when she saw the way it still curled against the back of his neck, a rush of emotion so strong it made her want to weep flooded her very being. She could still remember the feel of those curls against the palm of her hand when she kissed him, and the way she’d threaded her fingers through them when he made love to her. For a moment she stood frozen, shocked by the stab of desire in her belly. If it hadn’t been for Simon standing near the door she might have crawled under the covers with Derek and let the chips fall where they may.

Simon’s presence steadied her, and she took a deep breath before bending over the figure in the bed.

“Derek,” she called in the vicinity of his ear, already knowing it wouldn’t do any good. “Derek, wake up.”

Of course, he didn’t move. He’d always been the soundest sleeper she’d ever encountered. Biting her lip, she put her hand on his shoulder, the warmth of his body radiating through the bedclothes to her skin. She gave him a gentle shake, but he still didn’t move. Okay, then. She remembered how it was done, and with a firm grip she flipped him over onto his back.

Encouraged by a soft moan, she shook him again. “Derek, you have to wake up now.”

Eyes still screwed shut, he turned his head away from the lamp. “M’ awake,” he muttered.

“No, you’re not,” she contradicted. She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his shoulders. “Come on now. Sit up and talk to me.”

Groaning like a creaky floor, he sat up, the covers falling to his lap revealing broad shoulders and the most tempting bare chest ever created. Athena licked her lips before she could stop herself, and a flash of heat washed up into her face. Damn it.

“Wake up, Derek,” she urged. “Come on. Wake up and talk to me.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face and yawned. “I’m awake.” Lowering his hands, he looked at her for the first time and froze. His blue eyes were filled with surprise, but as Athena watched, another expression emerged, one of yearning and need.

Though her gasp was slight, it seemed to bring Derek back to an awareness of where he was, and his eyes became cool and distant. He leaned back against the headboard, still watching her like a hawk.

“Well,” he murmured, his voice roughened with sleep. “This will take some getting used to.”

“I’ll say,” she whispered.

“All right then.” Simon stepped into the hallway. “I’ll leave you to it. Athena, I’ll be in my room when you’re ready.”

Caught by Derek’s gaze, she didn’t even turn to watch Simon leave. She and Derek continued to stare at each other, and the silence grew more uncomfortable with each passing second. Unable to bear it any longer, Athena ran her hands over her face and pushed back the curls from her forehead. Her eyes dropped briefly, but it was long enough to notice that Derek was afflicted with a condition common to most men upon waking. Boy scouts could have camped under the tent in the bedclothes, and her eyes stuttered back to his face to find him watching her impassively.

“Want to help me take care of that?” His voice was soft, but she heard a hint of strain. “After all, you were hired to attend to my needs.” His lips curved into a half-smile at her shocked expression, and a hint of mischief made his eyes sparkle. “No?”

Though her brain was insisting she not only tell him ‘no’ but ‘hell, no,’ her lips refused to form the words. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to throw back the covers, lower her head to his lap, and make short work of his morning wood.

As the moments passed without a word, Derek’s smile faded. The silence between them was charged, electric and snapping. Still holding her gaze, he pushed away from the headboard and leaned toward her, his eyes seeming to grow wider and deeper. Athena held her breath, unable to move.

Before he reached her, Derek closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He leaned back, releasing a long sigh.

“I’m awake now,” he said, his voice taut with strain. “You can go and…do whatever it is Simon has for you to do.”

Feeling almost drugged, she nodded. “Okay.” She rose from the bed, but knew her trembling legs wouldn’t tolerate walking just yet. “Do you want me to make your tea?” she asked to give herself a little time to get it together.

“No, thanks. I’ll make it myself.”

“All right.” She took a tentative step, and found out her legs decided to support her weight after all as long as she didn’t try to run any marathons. As she made her slow way to the door, she heard the snap of his lighter and smelled the sharp scent of smoke as he lit his first cigarette of the day. Her fingers just brushed the doorknob when his soft voice halted her.

“Athena.”

She closed her eyes at the sound of her name on his lips. When he’d said it on Saturday it had been uttered with anger and disgust, but now it was soft and caressing and too, too familiar. She beat down the resultant flood of emotions and turned to him, wiping her face clean of all feeling. “Yeah?”

The tip of his cigarette glowed red as he inhaled, watching her closely. He blew out a cloud of smoke that hung suspended in the air.

“This isn’t going to work.”

The quiet certainty of his words was like a bucket of ice water to her emotions, and she straightened with a jerk. If he thought he could play her and then run her off, he was dead wrong. She was there for Elizabeth, and nothing he did would make her leave.

“Really?” she bit out. “We’ll see.”

She yanked open the door and fled the room.

 

 

 

 Other Books By Juli Page Morgan:

Synopsis:

Under Katie Scott's flower child exterior beats the heart of June Cleaver. Though she digs her bellbottoms and love beads, she longs for the idyllic family life she was denied as a child.

Laughed out of San Francisco's Haight Ashbury after the Summer of Love for believing rock 'n roll and white picket fences can coexist, she decides to try her luck in the bohemian neighborhood of Ladbroke Grove in London.

When she discovers her new friend Adam is starting a band with Jay Carey, she's ecstatic. She'd admired the British guitar god from afar for years, and when she and Jay finally meet the attraction between them is instantaneous.

But life with a rock 'n roll star doesn't lend itself well to white picket fences. And when Katie tells Jay the secret she's carried for two years it may end the dream before it begins.

"Sensuality Level: Sensual" 

Synopsis:

Top jock Spencer Moretti owns the New Orleans Rock radio airwaves. A veteran of countless band interviews at the age of 22, she’s ready for her own world-wide syndicated program. All she needs is one big break, and she finds it during a chance meeting with Geoff Lane, former guitarist for the legendary UK band Axis.

When Spencer discovers that Geoff has a secret music project in the works, one that’s sure to reignite his career, she ropes him into an exclusive interview, determined to snag the juicy details. Intrigued by the lovely disc jockey’s feisty nature and her spitfire temper, Geoff is determined to snag something too - Spencer!

Spencer and Geoff make sweet music together until death strikes their circle of friends. As the body count mounts, it’s clear that someone will go to any lengths to stop them cold. Can they keep a killer from destroying all they have, or will their love song become a murder ballad?

 

 

AUTHOR BIO:

Juli Page Morgan is a former rock ‘n roll radio announcer who had the great luck to meet and interview lots of bands over the years. During those interviews she heard some interesting stories, but it was when the microphone was turned off and they were just hanging out that she heard - and saw - the really juicy stuff! Incorporating these revelations in her books (with names and locations changed to protect the innocent, and often the not-so-innocent!) lets her take her readers on a hard rocking journey full of love, music and happy endings while giving a “backstage peek” at some of the things that really happened.  Her Romances that Rock™ include Crimson and Clover, and RONE Award nominees Athena’s Daughter and Song Without Words. Look for Sister Golden Hair in the summer of 2014.

Juli lives in Arkansas with her husband. When she’s not writing, she’s recording voiceovers for television commercials, remodeling her old house,  and trying to convince her husband the world won’t come to an end if the television is turned off.  She also listens to a lot of music at maximum volume and has never met a speed limit she didn't exceed.  Juli’s an unapologetic lover of rock ‘n roll, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, and French onion dip, not necessarily in that order.

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