Naked Ambition by Ashley Ladd

Naked Ambition
by Ashley Ladd

An MF erotic contemporary romance

Available at Total-e-Bound.com

Released February 10, 2010

Blurb:
Homecoming Valentines Collection, stories of love lost and love found: "If you love someone, let them go. If they return to you, it was meant to be. If they don't, their love was never yours to begin with..."

Ali James will do anything to raise her orphaned sister and finish medical school, even work as a topless waitress.

Ali James is determined to finish medical school and cure cancers like the one that killed her mother. She's also determined to raise her trouble-making teenage sister. As if it's not hard enough to juggle all this and her job as a topless waitress, her ex-fiancé comes back to town and makes it plain he's still sore she chose her career over him and that he very much disapproves her of job.


Excerpt From: Naked Ambition


Police detective Cliff Griffin stewed in the back of the worst dive he’d ever seen. If he wasn’t on duty he wouldn’t be caught dead in the joint.

A waitress winked broadly and pointedly looked at his crotch. “Can I get you anything, sugar? Anything at all?”

He plastered a smile on his face as he choked out, “No thanks.”

The platinum blonde with bright blue eye shadow that would do a 1960s go-go dancer proud, pouted prettily and stooped lower so that her breasts threatened to spill out of her skimpy costume. “Are you sure? You’re the cutest thing to wander into this place in a year of Sundays.”

Cliff didn’t consider himself cute, but he wasn’t grizzled or dirty like most of the other patrons, either. He wondered what the woman would do if he flashed his police badge or told her he was a cop. But he wasn’t ready to reveal himself, so he looked away while trying not to get his face stuck in her cleavage. “I’m sure.”

He had to keep a clear head and a watchful eye. Some monster was threatening the woman and her co-workers. To date, they didn’t know if the threat came from a religious nut, a thwarted lover or maybe the jealous wife of one of the patrons. As the new guy in the department, he’d gotten stuck on the case.

He had nothing against naked women or drinking, but he wasn’t allowed to partake of either on duty so this was torture. He also preferred to be alone with a naked woman.

That brought a grimace to his lips. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d been with a woman. And it had been even longer since he’d been in love with one.

That he could remember. Who wouldn’t remember a big break-up on Valentine’s Day? Or having a huge heart-shaped box of chocolates bonk him on the head?

If the cheesy decorations on the walls were anything to go by, it was almost Valentine’s Day again—the worst day in the world. When he got off duty, it was his turn to have a stiff drink!

Winners & Release Day for NAKED AMBITION

And the winners of my Valentine's Day story "Naked Ambition" are:

Tamsyn

and

teka_cideon (from Twitter)

I've sent notices to both winners and will send their prizes as soon as I hear from them.

And today is the day "Naked Ambition" releases at http://www.total-e-bound.com/

Homecoming Valentines Collection, stories of love lost and love found: "If you love someone, let them go. If they return to you, it was meant to be. If they don't, their love was never yours to begin with..."

BLURB
Ali James will do anything to raise her orphaned sister and finish medical school, even work as a topless waitress.

Ali James is determined to finish medical school and cure cancers like the one that killed her mother. She's also determined to raise her trouble-making teenage sister. As if it's not hard enough to juggle all this and her job as a topless waitress, her ex-fiancé comes back to town and makes it plain he's still sore she chose her career over him and that he very much disapproves her of job.



EXCERPT
Police detective Cliff Griffin stewed in the back of the worst dive he’d ever seen. If he wasn’t on duty he wouldn’t be caught dead in the joint.


A waitress winked broadly and pointedly looked at his crotch. “Can I get you anything, sugar? Anything at all?”

He plastered a smile on his face as he choked out, “No thanks.”

The platinum blonde with bright blue eye shadow that would do a 1960s go-go dancer proud, pouted prettily and stooped lower so that her breasts threatened to spill out of her skimpy costume. “Are you sure? You’re the cutest thing to wander into this place in a year of Sundays.”

Cliff didn’t consider himself cute, but he wasn’t grizzled or dirty like most of the other patrons, either. He wondered what the woman would do if he flashed his police badge or told her he was a cop. But he wasn’t ready to reveal himself, so he looked away while trying not to get his face stuck in her cleavage. “I’m sure.”

He had to keep a clear head and a watchful eye. Some monster was threatening the woman and her co-workers. To date, they didn’t know if the threat came from a religious nut, a thwarted lover or maybe the jealous wife of one of the patrons. As the new guy in the department, he’d gotten stuck on the case.

He had nothing against naked women or drinking, but he wasn’t allowed to partake of either on duty so this was torture. He also preferred to be alone with a naked woman.

That brought a grimace to his lips. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d been with a woman. And it had been even longer since he’d been in love with one.

That he could remember. Who wouldn’t remember a big break-up on Valentine’s Day? Or having a huge heart-shaped box of chocolates bonk him on the head?

If the cheesy decorations on the walls were anything to go by, it was almost Valentine’s Day again—the worst day in the world. When he got off duty, it was his turn to have a stiff drink!

Available today, Monday February 8, 2010 at Total-E-Bound.

If you love Valentine's Day and romance and you've not read my Valentine's Day romance from 2009 "Secret Admirer" check it out here.

A long-time secret admirer of star pitcher Blake, geeky nerd Wes asks Blake to make him over into his fantasy man - for someone else.

Geeky nerd Wes Donovan has a secret crush on Blake Kircherner, star pitcher of his baseball team. Unfortunately, the only time Blake seems to notice him is when he's making the last out for their team and losing another game.

With Valentine's Day and the team's annual Valentine's Day party coming up, he can't stand the thought of going dateless again. So he asks Blake to make him into a new man and help him make their coach Clay, jealous. In reality, Blake's the one he hopes to make jealous and to win after he's transformed into Blake's fantasy man.

Valentine's Day Contest - Free Book Giveaway

In honor of Valentine's Day and also in honor of my soon to be released book "Naked Ambition", I'm going to give away two free download copies of my book.

How to enter?

Leave a comment on my blog between today and February 7th telling me what your perfect Valentine's Day date would be.

Or...

Retweet the following tweet on Twitter using the hashtag #NakedAmbition

"Win a download copy of Ashley Ladd's Valentine's erotic romance Naked Ambition. RT to enter before Feb 7th" #NakedAmbition

The Prize

Blurb
Ali James will do anything to raise her orphaned sister and finish medical school, even work as a topless waitress.


Ali James is determined to finish medical school and cure cancers like the one that killed her mother. She's also determined to raise her trouble-making teenage sister. As if it's not hard enough to juggle all this and her job as a topless waitress, her ex-fiancé comes back to town and makes it plain he's still sore she chose her career over him and that he very much disapproves her of job.


Excerpt: Naked Ambition
“You’re okay by the grace of God. If I hadn’t been here, you could be dead.” Cliff faced off against her and narrowed his eyes.


They were dark and inscrutable but the set of his lips and his flared nostrils told her he was pissed. Not that he had any right—he’d given that up when he’d dumped her on Valentine’s Day four years ago.

“Hello to you, too,” she drawled and squared her shoulders. “I never expected you to darken my door again. What brings you back to town?”

His glance slid around the room then dwelled on Timmy who stood by her as if he was her personal bodyguard. “This isn’t the place and I’ll be the one asking the questions. I need you to go to the station.”

Frankie appeared out of nowhere. His face was red and blustery and he seethed. “You can’t take her. She did nothing wrong. I’ll be short a waitress if she leaves.”

Cliff looked Frankie up and down with disdain. “I need to get her official statement.”

He turned his back on Frankie and looked at her again. “Did you bring decent clothes with you? Change and come with me.”

She bristled. Did he think so little of her that she’d drive across town in this scandalous costume? “Of course.”

Even though she wasn’t eager to spend time with the holier-than-thou cop, she wanted out of this place more. She didn’t feel safe and was too shaky to continue her shift.

When she rejoined her ex, she returned his t-shirt. For a moment she was sorry he had to cover his awesome chest. Then she chastised herself for such a random, out-of-place thought. She had no intention of seeing this man naked again, much less any intention of seeing him after he finished with her statement. “Can we hurry this up?”

When she went to get into her car, he grabbed her elbow. “You’re coming with me. We’ll send someone back for your car.”

Aghast her jaw dropped. “Am I under arrest? Or do you just not trust me?”

“You’re not under arrest. You’re more like summoned. As far as trusting you, I don’t know. I never expected you to do something so boneheaded. Why are you here?” He opened the passenger door to his unmarked vehicle and waited until she slid in. Then he locked and closed the door.

She quirked a brow and twisted in her seat to glare at him. “If I refuse to go with you, nothing will happen to me?”

“I’ll have to take you into official custody.”

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the seat. “Why were you there? Business?”

“Yeah.”

She was frustrated when he didn’t elaborate. It was one of the things that had driven her crazy when they’d been together. He’d had so many secrets. He’d been away so many nights without being able to tell her where. “Is this the type of place you were at all those nights you couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me where you were?”

He guffawed and turned into traffic. “Who are you to ask me that? After the way I caught you tonight?”

“Caught me?” The hair on the back of her neck bristled and she gave him the glare of death. “How can you catch me if we’re not together?”

“Ditto.”

Naked Ambition coming soon from Total-E-Bound


When will the winners be picked?
I'll pick the winners Sunday night February 7, 2010. I'll announce them both on Twitter and here on my blog.


What my favorite Valentine's Day would be
I'll get the ball rolling. My idea of a perfect Valentine's Day would be a romantic candlelit dinner for two outside under the moonlight with some snuggling and slow dancing. Then I'd like to see a romantic movie with my sweetie. If you know my hubby, please feel free to tell him.

Your turn. Leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite Valentine's Day date would be.


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