Spotlight & Giveaway: Evidence of Desire by Lexi Blake

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lexi Blake to HJ!

Hi Lexi and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Evidence of Desire!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Isla Shayne knows she’s in over her head when her client, former football player Trey Adams, is accused of murdering his wife. She’s his personal lawyer. She’s used to handling his business dealings and private financial matters, not murder charges. She needs to find an experienced criminal attorney who speaks her client’s language. David Cormack of Garrison, Cormack and Lawless is exactly what she needs in the courtroom–and the only man she wants in the bedroom.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

It was always the roar of the crowd he heard first. It came out of nowhere. Like the world was quiet and still, and then a joyous chaos slapped him in the face. How many times had he stood outside the locker room, waiting for that moment when he moved from the darkness and into the brilliant light?

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• This book is set in one of my favorite cities in the world – New York City.
• The timeline on this book is about 7 years ahead of my other series. You get to see a few Masters and Mercenaries characters in the future!
• Evidence of Desire can be read as a standalone.

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. As you wrote your protagonist was there anything about them that surprised you?

I think these are two of the “realest” characters I’ve ever written. I usually write over the top military guys and spy chicks. David and Isla are quieter but still very complex. One of the things I had to fight for was making David an everyday normal ex-NFL player. They don’t all come out of it with millions of dollars. A lot of the regular players come out it having to find a whole new life and dealing with the potential ramifications of the old one.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

Isla and David meet after Isla’s client Trey is accused of murdering his wife, Portia. Isla was really close to the family, so the murder and arrest are devastating to her.
This scene takes place the morning after the murder. David has spent the night with her because he didn’t want her to be alone. She’d cried for hours while he held her. David wakes up to find a surprise guest in Isla’s apartment, his partner Noah Lawless.

“Would you like some coffee?” Isla stared up at him, a quizzical look on her pretty face. She was holding a mug in her hand. She was also still dressed for bed. Her legs were covered in the PJ bottoms she’d worn the night before and the tank top that barely covered her breasts. She’d put on a bra, but they were still beautifully on display, as was the long, graceful line of her neck. Her honey-brown hair was piled on top of her head. She looked sweet and soft and so sexy it made him ache. “Do you want cream and sugar?”
He took the mug from her. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“It’s my favorite, French vanilla biscotti,” she said with a smile.
Noah’s eyes widened. “Oh, hey, one of the things you should know about David . . .”
Damn it. He was not going to let that satisfied smile on her face get ruined by Noah. He hated flavored coffee. Flavored coffees were horrible, the single worst invention since someone thought, Hey, let’s put a set of circular escalator steps on an endless rotation and call it a stair stepper. He hated that thing, too. But he hated the thought of hurting her more. “David loves vanilla. Loves it. Especially in his coffee.” He took a sip. Yep, that was flavored coffee. He forced a smile on his lips. “So good. That hits the spot. Thank you.”
He swallowed that sucker. No spitting it out.
Noah stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“I’m very serious about coffee,” he replied.
Noah was the one laughing now, and he definitely got in a snort or two. “I did not see that coming.”
David sent him the look he used to send players across the line from him, the one that said he was coming to get them and they should back the fuck off.
Noah’s hands went up in the universal symbol for I surrender. “Hey, I get it. And I am here because you’re here. Henry called a team meeting but you didn’t answer your phone, so we decided to bring the meeting to you. We were lucky that address turned out to be Isla’s and not some random hooker you picked up for the night.”
“I’ve never picked up a hooker.” Though he had thought a hooker was a fan once at a championship game party. He’d ended up paying for that mistake. Literally.
“That’s good to know.” The sexiest smile curled up Isla’s lips as she tipped her coffee mug back. “I don’t pick up hookers either.”
The nasty taste in his mouth was worth that smile.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

I think the important point of this book is that love isn’t always easy, but it’s always, always worth it. David has to learn that no matter what the future holds, he can face it with Isla by his side. Time is precious, even more so when we might not have a lot of it.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I just started working on Enchanted, my 1001 Dark Nights book for 2019. It features Jared Johns and Sarah Stevens. Their story started in the book From Sanctum With Love, and after spending a couple of years apart, Jared’s serious about getting Sarah back. It will be out May 14.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A signed paperback copy of Order of Protection, book 1 in the Courting Justice series.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: It’s been cold and rainy this winter in North Texas. When I’m not writing, I tend to spend my time curled up on the couch with a blanket, watching movies and drinking hot chocolate. How are you spending your spare time this new year?

 
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Excerpt from Evidence of Desire:

Isla couldn’t believe she was doing this, but the minute she got a good look at David Cormack without his suit on she knew there was no going back. She’d been ready to make a pot of tea and wait for him to come out of the shower when Erin Taggart had appeared in the kitchen.
“Not jumping his bones, then?” she’d asked as she dragged a bottle of water out of the fridge.
“He wants to take it slow.” She was aware of how disappointed she’d sounded.
“No man who looks at a woman the way that one looks at you wants to take things slow. He’s scared you’re too good for him or something stupid like that,” she said. “I should know. I held off my gorgeous hottie for way too long because he was a tiny bit younger than me. Don’t waste time. Take command. And then when he’s all in, give that control up. That always works for me. ’Night.”
There was something in the way the redhead smiled, something intimate and soft. Something Isla wanted for herself again. She’d had it as a girl with Austin. She wanted to know how it felt to have that connection as a woman.
So she’d made the decision. Maybe for the first time in her life, she’d genuinely made the decision to be brave, to go after what she wanted with a singular purpose, to put herself out there and see if she was bait enough to catch the one fish she wanted.
Though first she needed some fishing gear. According to Noah, that was in the nightstand drawer.
She’d stepped in and taken off her clothes. All in. Just like a poker game. If he refused to play, she would be devastated and potentially never be able to face the man again, but she’d felt almost compelled to undress and walk to the entry of that sexy natural stone shower. She’d stood there and looked, really looked at David Cormack. He’d been turned away from her, his back on full display. He was beautifully male, his muscles defined by years of athleticism. His back was strong, his butt practically perfect, and he was held up with strong legs. But his head hung low and she could swear she felt how lonely he was.
She hadn’t realized how lonely she was until she’d met him. “David?”
He started, every muscle tensing, and then he turned, though he mostly moved his torso as though trying to keep his private parts private. His eyes latched onto her, but he didn’t say a word.
Oh, she wanted to run. He was far too gorgeous. She wasn’t in his league. She knew she was attractive, but she wasn’t even close to being in the same condition he was in. He’d been an elite athlete and he’d obviously never stopped working out. She could stand to lose a few pounds.
And if those pounds and the roundness of her hips ran him off, then so be it. She was done sitting around and hoping she got what she wanted. At least she would know. “I don’t want to go slow.”
For a second, she was almost sure he would tell her to go. Then he turned and he was standing there in his full glory, as though let- ting her see what he had to offer. When she simply stared, he crossed the space between them and, without a word, his hands cupped her face and his mouth was on hers.
The minute they touched, something sparked to life inside her, something wild she’d never felt before. It seemed to start in her toes, making them curl as the sensation rushed through her system. Heat and anticipation and pure joy.
It had been forever since a man kissed her like this. Maybe never. The only thing that compared was the sweet high school fumbling between her and Austin. He’d been eager, but he had no idea what he was doing.
David Cormack knew how to kiss. He mastered her mouth with his, soft when he needed to be and then rough, sending a thrill through her system that burned a path straight to her pussy. He brushed his lips against hers and then zeroed in on her lower lip, biting gently and sucking briefly before another soft kiss allowed her to breathe again. And then when she was ready to beg, his tongue surged in, rubbing soft velvet against her own.
“Tell me you’re sure,” he said against her mouth as his hands moved down.
“I’m sure,” she replied with a breathy whisper. He could throw her up against the side of the shower and take her then and there and she would be perfectly satisfied.
“Because there’s no going back. I’ve been a good boy up until this point. I’ve been civilized, Isla. I’ve played the gentleman around you, but if you let me in, I’ll invade and you’ll see the real man under- neath the suit. I’ll be demanding and overly protective and I’ll want you every fucking minute of the day.”
And that was bad, how? She’d been on the outside looking in for so long, the idea of being someone’s center, being the person for him, made her heart ache with longing. “Please touch me, David. I want the real you, every dirty, possessive part of you.”
His hands found her hips and he dragged her against him, their bodies coming together for the first time. He was warm, his skin soft over the steel of his muscular body.
She took a moment, letting her arms wrap around him, her breasts against his chest, that hard erection of his cradled to her belly. This was sweet intimacy. Yes, it would lead to something wild, but for a moment she basked in the comfort of another body against hers.
He stepped back, taking her with him and bringing them into the warmth of the shower. He seemed to understand she needed a moment, and he followed her lead perfectly. One hand held her to him while the other smoothed back her now-wet hair as he brushed light kisses over her forehead and down to her nose, lavishing her with affection she’d been starved without. He stood like that with her, learning her body with his hands and mouth.
“See,” he said with the sexiest chuckle as he leaned over and ran his tongue along the shell of her ear. “We’re still taking it slow. I could do this for hours and I haven’t even gotten to your tasty parts yet. You’re sweet, Isla. I could eat you up. Are you going to let me eat you up?”
She nodded.
One hand tangled in her hair, gently drawing her back and forc- ing her to look up at him. His eyes were hot, his jaw tight with arousal. “Talk to me. I won’t let you disconnect from me when we’re intimate. Tell me. ‘‘Yes, David, I want you to eat me up.’”
“Yes, David. I want you to eat me up.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A fast-paced contemporary romance that sizzles from the New York Times bestselling author of Order of Protection where passion for the law isn’t the only thing heating up the courtroom.

Isla Shayne knows she’s in over her head. As former all-star linebacker Trey Adams’s personal lawyer, she’s used to handling his business dealings and private financial matters, not murder charges. She needs to find an experienced criminal attorney who speaks her client’s language. David Cormack of Garrison, Cormack and Lawless is exactly what she needs in the courtroom–and the only man she wants in the bedroom.

For David, taking on the Adams case means diving back into a world he thought he’d left behind and colliding head on with tragic possibilities he’s in no mood to face. There’s a reason professional football is in his past and no matter how close Isla gets to the truth he intends to leave it there.

But long days working on the case together lead to hot nights in each other’s arms. As their feelings grow, the case takes a deadly twist that could change the game between the two lovers forever.

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Meet the Author:

Lexi Blake is the author of contemporary and urban fantasy romance. She started publishing in 2011 and has gone on to sell over two million copies of her books. Her books have appeared twenty-six times on the USA Today, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She lives in North Texas with her husband, kids, and two rescue dogs.
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