Ashley by April Kelley Release Blast, Guest Post, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway!

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Hi guys, we have April Kelley visiting today with her brand new release Ashley, the fifth book in her Demon Elite series, we have a brilliant guest post where April chats about the Demon Elite team, we have a great excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Lisa’s review, so check out the post and click that giveaway link <3 ~Pixie~

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Ashley

(Demon Elite 05)
by

April Kelley

Saving Iain means finding a small bit of redemption, but what Ash gets instead is so much more.

Ashley Wilkins has done some bad things, torturing people until they give him the information he wants, but all that was in his past. Making amends for all those wrongdoings will never happen. He knows that, but that doesn’t stop him from trying, which is why he takes a break from interrogation to save Iain Liron’s life. Iain is a recovering drug addict who understands all too well what finding forgiveness means. Can he make Ash see that he’s more than just his past sins?

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April Kelley!

What is Demon Elite?

The quick answer: Demon Elite is a team of assassins.

There are sixteen of them on the team. Every member is gay so you will find no girly bits in the Demon Elite series.

 Mostly, they take out the criminals in the sex trafficking industry. They all feel very strongly about what they do and the goal they’d like to achieve, which is to stop sex slavery and trafficking completely. They used to work for a secret government agency, but had to leave when they learned their leader was also selling human beings to the highest bidder. Now they are independent contractors on a mission to stop they’re ex-boss.  

The Demon Elite team works very closely with the Newell Brothers. If you’ve read Lakehouse Security, then you’ll recognize that last name from those books. Both teams are currently living and working in the lakehouse mansion so the Lakehouse Security boys visit the Demon Elite stories from time to time.

For some of them, the team is the only family they have. Even the family outside of the team seems to be a part of the group, as is the case with Crash’s mother. She seems to have adopted most of the team. (Crash’s story starts out the series). For the most part, their dysfunction works well for them. They tease each other unmercifully, but they each have the other’s backs.

When they worked for the government, the rule was no fraternizing with each other. Now that they are independent, the natural romantic connections some of them wanted to make are coming to fruition. The Demon Elite series focuses on the romantic connections each member of the team makes, not only with each other but also with people outside of their little group.

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Excerpt

“Still not home yet?” Germ’s voice came through the communication device in Ash’s ear. Germ was like God’s nerdy little sidekick. He was always there whenever a Demon Elite member had to go on a mission. The only time he wasn’t the voice of God for Ash was during an interrogation. That was because Ash needed to concentrate on the person in front of him when he did that, so Germ was too much of a distraction.

“Negative.” He stood there waiting for Bradley Kessler to come home from work. It just so happened that Kessler had bought Iain Liron as a sex slave. Mize hadn’t delivered his new toy yet.

“Don’t you wonder why a workaholic needs to buy a person? Where is he going to find the time?”

“Kessler is a psychopath. The only reason he works so much is to keep up appearances. He’s obsessed with getting his rocks off, and that’s probably getting harder and harder to do, which is why he needs a slave,” Ash whispered.

“I forgot how freaking good you are at reading people.”

Ash made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. “My question is how does he expect to get away with it? How are any of them getting away with it?”

Kessler couldn’t keep a person against his or her will in an apartment building in the city. He’d get caught eventually, unless he was just that arrogant. Mize was either making the buyer alter the environment, or she was altering the person. The latter would explain why Kessler didn’t have Iain in his possession yet.

“I’ll talk to Derek about investigating that. Good question, by the way.”

Just the thought of someone conditioning the slaves, torturing them so they would learn to comply, made Ash’s skin crawl. His stomach rolled a little and nausea threatened his system. “Takes a fucker to know a fucker, right?”

“Shut up. You’re not a douche nozzle like Kessler. You never were.”

“I’m just saying torturing people is my thing, so I know all about it. This whole slavery business is all just torture tactics regardless of their reasoning. Getting people to do what you want them to do by any means necessary.”

“I love it when you get all smart. It’s so sexy. Say something else smart.”

“Waterboarding.”

“Eww, not that. That’s not sexy.”

“Well, that’s where I excel.”

“Not true. You know about all kinds of other things.”

Yeah, he really didn’t. He’d graduated high school with average grades. The military had been the best bet for him if he didn’t want to be stuck on the farm for the rest of his life. At the time, he’d fought taking over the farm as if it were a prison.

“Well then, maybe you can stand in my office with your clothes off. When you come back home, I mean. Because you do have that going for you too.” Germ was the flirtiest person he had ever met in his life. Fitting in with the team was the number one goal for Germ and one he always thought he failed at, which wasn’t true at all. He was different than everyone else but also the most valuable team member they had because of it. It was a good thing he never took it any further than flirting, though, at least with Ash. Dude was like a brother. He didn’t think the flirting went any farther with any of the other guys on the team either, but didn’t know that for sure.

“I’m taking your silence for a yes.”

“Whatever.”

“We’re not any closer to finding Iain, by the way.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Figured you’d want to know, considering you’re catching his buyer.”

“Not really.” Ash leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. Ash’s indifference wasn’t entirely accurate. He wanted to find Iain as much as any of the other members of the team. Iain was the brother of Raven, who was a team member, so that automatically made Iain top priority for all of them, Ash included. Other than that, Ash had no reason to care one way or another.

“Your cold attitude isn’t fooling me.”

“If it doesn’t directly pertain to the job I’m doing right now, I don’t need to know.”

“Whatever. You’re a fucking softy.”

“Shut up, Germ.”

“Shutting up. Hey, guess what?” Germ didn’t even wait for Ash to answer. He just continued talking. “Reggie is in his room right now. He’s trying on all the clothes we bought him.”

Ash smiled. “Well, he needed clothes.”

“Thanks for helping with the expense of it. You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted too. Guy’s been through enough. Got to pay back all that bad shit I did somehow, right?”

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About April

April Kelley Author picLiving in Southwest Michigan, April resides with her husband and two kids. She has been an avid reader for several years. Ever since she wrote her first story at the age of ten, the characters in her head still won’t stop telling their stories. If April isn’t reading or writing, she can be found

outside playing with the animals or taking a long walk in the woods. If you wish to contact her, email authoraprilkelley@gmail.com. Please visit her website at authoraprilkelley.com

Website ǀ Blog | Facebook ǀ Facebook Group ǀ Twitter ǀ Google+ ǀ Pinterest

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Giveaway!

Win an eBook copy of anything on my Backlist. Visit http://www.authoraprilkelley.com/ for information on all my books.

(Just click the link below)

April Kelley Rafflecopter giveaway!

(Ends 25th August 2016)

Review

April Kelley - Ashley Cover LTitle: Ashley

Series: Demon Elite #5

Author: April Kelley

Genre: Gay Erotic Romance, Contemporary

Length: Novella 

Publisher: Extasy Books

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts 

Blurb: Saving Iain means finding a small bit of redemption but what Ash gets instead is so much more.

Ashley Wilkins has done some bad things, torturing people until they give him the information he wants, but all that was in his past. Making amends for all those wrong doings will never happen. He knows that, but that doesn’t stop him from trying, which is why he takes a break from interrogation to save Iain Liron’s life. Iain is a recovering drug addict who understands all too well what finding forgiveness means. Can he make Ash see that he’s more than just his past sins?

ISBN: 978-1-4874-0810-7

Product Link: http://www.extasybooks.com/ashley/

Reviewer: Lisa

Review: Each book in the Demon Elite collection features a different romantic couple. To enjoy the overall story arc and crossover characters, I would recommend reading the series in sequential order. I would start with Lakehouse Security first though. 

It has always amazed me at how an author can put together a story that not only catches your attention but keep it there. April is one of those authors that I know when she has a story out that I will be standing there waiting to read it. Her stories are so unique and exciting with the way they play out. I love how the characters are damaged but when a relationship is forged that they seem to heal each other with their love and support. At first I wasn’t sure where this story was going but damn it was perfect. 

Ash was the one to go to when you needed someone to interrogate another. He was as deadly as his knives. However all he felt now was guilt. So he figured by helping Raven get his brother back, might just make atonement. He just hadn’t expected to fall for the man.

Iain was Raven’s little brother and an addict. When he was kidnapped and tortured he knew his big brother would come save him. He just hadn’t expected a sexy looking farm boy to be his savior. Nor had he expected the man to be as deadly as he was. To top it off there was a hit on Reggie, so they were all a little on edge. However it would seem these two knew how to take the edge down quite a bit.

I loved this story and cannot wait to read the next book. This is one series that I would definitely recommend. It has not two but three sexy men, a bit of angst and pain, excitement, danger, and a lot of heart in it. So if you want a top rated story this is the one for you. 

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