There is nothing better than a new novella added to one of you favorites series! CARRY ME HOME is the perfect novella for the Off the Map series and I have fallen even more in love Lia’s writing and characters. Check out more about this new story, Tina’s Thoughts, read an excerpt, and check out the giveaway!

CARRY ME HOME
Off the Map #3.1
Lia Riley
Genre: New Adult
Publication Date: May 5, 2015

Love doesn’t have to be perfect to be true…
Years ago, Tanner Green loved Sunny Letman. She was meant to be his first kiss, first love, first everything. Then their world spun upside-down and out of control. Free-spirited Sunny doesn’t do commitment. Sure, guys are great for a night or a week, but shealways leaves first. That is, until professional skateboarder and town golden boy, Tanner Green, unexpectedly walks back into her life.

Despite their broken history, a fragile and undeniably electric connection still holds them together. Now Tanner has to convince Sunny that even though love isn’t always perfect, it’s worth sticking around for. . .

You can purchase your copy today at the retailers listed below!

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I got way too excited when I realized that Lia Riley was adding a new novella to the Off The Map series! I love this series so much- Talia is one of my favorite female New Adult characters! So naturally any addition to such an incredible series was bound to make me crazy! Then I saw what the novella was about… I will admit I was confused a bit. If you have read the series then you know a bit about Tanner and Sunny. I was curious as to how those two ended up together, especially with who Tanner is and what happened with him in the series. But I put my faith in Lia and I was not disappointed.

CARRY ME HOME reads like a book. What I mean is sometimes when you read a novella you want more and need more, but Lia is able to take this short story and go so deeply in what is happening that, as the reader, you do not need a whole 300 pages to fall in love with their story. Sunny and Tanner seem to be opposite in every possible way. Watching them interact is like nails on a chalkboard with all the tension and hostility. When their past begins to unfold, things begin to make sense. I loved seeing their history and learning what these two were before life took a sudden turn. These two are perfect for each other but life interfered and their paths dissected.

As with every single one of Lia’s books, there are some surprises in the mix. I honestly had no idea what to expect and that fact alone made me fall in love with the story. So often books and novellas are so overdone and predictable, but not with Lia’s writings. There is always a fresh theme and perspective that I am not expecting, one that captivates my mind and heart.

The chemistry between Tanner and Sunny is HOT! It literally burns you while you read. These two must work through some pretty heavy issues but what is waiting on the other side is something so sweet and all consuming- a relationship that was always meant to be. This novella gives fans of the Off the Map series more about Tanner and Sunny that they are not expecting. The facts you learn in their story makes me want to go back and read the series again, with a new understanding of these secondary characters! This story is a beautiful tale of finding yourself again and reconnecting with the one that got away. There is beauty, life, and love abounding in this story and you will not want to miss it!

Tanner is in the shower when I let myself inside. There’s a wooden rocking chair in the corner. I walk over, sit and close my eyes. He’s naked, soapy, skin flushed from the hot spray. I could join him. He wants me. The space between my legs throbs to the beat of my heart. What’s set in motion between us isn’t going to stop.

I rock, straighten my backbone and focus my attentions. Imagine each breath spiraling through the open door, to the sky, leaving the atmosphere. A quiet prayer. Please. Please don’t let me fuck this up. My hands grip the rocking chair sides hard, hands that ache to touch his wet skin.

The water turns off and he’s out, rubbing a towel over his body.

I’m going for it, can’t help myself.

I tried my best to be my own island.

Turns out my best isn’t nearly good enough.

The door opens and he stands, backlit in a tight white t-shirt and  pair of low slung jeans. His mop of hair is wet, slicked back from his striking face.

“Good, you’re back,” he says. “I didn’t like you out there alone.”

“I was fine, nothing scary outside.”

He frowns, catching my double meaning. “I decided to sleep in the back of my car.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“I don’t mind.”

Of course he doesn’t. He’d sleep on bare concrete if he thought it would be easier for me.

“I get it.” He backs toward the door. “Tonight’s been extreme. You want space. I’ll go–”

“Stop.” I’m in the darkest corner, in this rocking chair throne, the Queen of the Shadows. There’s a great mystery at work. How can my heart be chained to this guy and still feel free?

A bead of water drops from his thick hair and falls to his shoulder. Then another. Tiny wet patches appear on his shirt each time one makes impact. The way he watches me, his gaze writes a secret poem on my skin.

“Tell me you don’t want me,” he says. “Say you’re not interested and nothing will happen.”

I want to curl in a ball. Instead, I stand up.

“Sunny,” he whispers, and it’s hard to know if he intends my name as a question or an answer. Funny, the way it sounds like both.

My lids flutter closed of their own volition as he closes the distance. He’s tall enough that when he bends, his face buries into the top of my head. He inhales as if I’m a secret flower. I wish I only ever bloomed for him. A stupid notion. This moment would be perfect if it wasn’t us. If we were other people.

I hook my fingers into his belt loops and do an uncharacteristic fumble, aim too high and brush his stomach instead. His abdominal muscles flex and there’s my cue to explore. I can’t help but inch under the cotton, trace the thick muscles that make up his defined V-line. My nails gently cut to the top of his jeans. His groan vibrates into my skull.

He’s slipping,  less careful with every ragged breath. His skin heats under my fingertips. There’s no choice. There’s never been with him.

I rock into him, hard, and his mouth explodes on mine like a wet, hot grenade. He bites my lower lip and even though I’m scared, I’m not scared of him anymore.

To celebrate the release day of CARRY ME HOME, Lia Riley is celebrating with a giveaway! For your chance to win one of 10 digital copies of CARRY ME HOME just enter this RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY and follow the instructions. You will be entered to win! Make sure to enter soon so you don’t miss out! Good luck!

After studying at the University of Montana-Missoula, Lia Riley scoured the world armed only with a backpack, overconfidence and a terrible sense of direction. When not torturing heroes (because c’mon, who doesn’t love a good tortured hero?), Lia herds unruly chickens, camps, beach combs, daydreams about as-of-yet unwritten books, wades through a mile-high TBR pile and schemes yet another trip. She and her family live mostly in Northern California.

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