Item: Pursuit of Innocence
Author: Gina

Spotlight & Author Guest Post | Pursuit of Innocence by Bethany Rosa | $25 Gift Card #Romance @GoddessFish @Bethanyrosa.author

A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me with the information for this tour.

Book Details

Spotlight & Author Guest Post | Pursuit of Innocence by Bethany Rosa | $25 Gift Card #Romance @GoddessFish @Bethanyrosa.author

Pursuit of Innocence by Bethany Rosa
on February 28, 2024
Genres: Romance
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 369

“I’m done waiting around. You’re mine. No more games or pining over someone else when it’s me you want. You won’t remember his name after I get through with you.”

Lily knows exactly what she wants in life. To graduate, land a high-paying job, and forge her own way. Nothing will distract her. Until the ultimate playboy billionaire Sebastian Dubree, barges in. Not to be overlooked, Lily’s longtime crush, Jackson, decides she’s worth the fight.

Reluctant to succumb to either, she quickly becomes a challenge to conquer. Lily must decide between the familiarity of her childhood longing or the newly discovered passion ignited by the dominant CEO. But can she surrender without losing herself in the process, or will someone take matters into his own hands?

Boundaries blur between desire and resistance in this gripping coming-of-age romance, leaving readers yearning for more.

Content Warning: Explicit

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Excerpt from Pursuit of Innocence

I hit a wall. A solid, warm wall that smells dreadfully sinful. Before I have time to process, two firm hands are on my shoulders to steady me. “Hey, watch where you’re going” comes the deepest, sexiest voice imaginable, which would be incredibly hot if the words spoken were anything other than rude and demanding. Looking up, which is crazy, considering I’m one step higher, I freeze as my eyes land on a dark, handsome god of a man who looks like he wants to commit murder. What is it with me and jerks tonight?

His eyes get bigger, and his brows furrow as soon as my shocked gaze meets his. He has short black hair that’s longer on the top and styled perfectly. His menacing eyebrows are folded downward from scowling at me. The dark scruff that shadows his face is so sexy, trimmed razor straight, accentuating his perfectly chiseled jaw. Mentally slapping myself, I apologize.

“Crap, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there.” He doesn’t release his hold.

“That’s because your head was down. Your eyes should be looking forward.” His voice is hard and demanding.

Flustered and—I reluctantly admit—slightly turned on by his strong, firm grip and penetrating stare, I stand there frozen in place. After what seems like minutes but I’m sure is only seconds, I snap out of it and apologize again. “Sorry, I’ll watch where I’m going from now on.” The words rush out as I pull away to leave, this time keeping my head up. I think I hear him say something else behind me, but I don’t stop. Running into one of the hottest guys I’ve seen in a while should’ve been the highlight of my night. Instead, I’m more irritated. Do all good-looking men have a license to be an ass?

Excerpt provided by the author/publisher for use in this post.

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Purchase Links for Pursuit of Innocence

Pursuit of Innocence: An Alpha-Male, Love-Triangle Steamy Romance (The Pursuit Series Book 1)

Amazon Kindle Edition
Rosa, Bethany (Author)
English (Publication Language)
320 Pages - 02/28/2024 (Publication Date) - Gallatin Publishing (Publisher)

If the above link does not take you to your country’s Amazon page, please let me know, and I’ll gladly get a link for you.

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BookShop.org

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About Bethany Rosa

Bethany Rosa raised four amazing daughters before fulfilling her dream to become a writer. Her goal is to ignite passion in readers through her erotically charged stories.

When not immersed in writing, Bethany finds joy in life, traveling the world alongside her husband of 25 years. Home is divided between the mountains of Montana and the Arizona sunshine.

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram

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Guest Post by Bethany Rosa

Thoughts and fears of a debut author’s steamy romance book launch.

It’s happening. I’m excited, nervous, and going crazy. I did it! It’s not just a thought anymore. It’s not just a dream; it’s reality. I still have a hard time believing it.

The thoughts that ran through my mind the day before my book came out were mixed. I was so excited to share my book with the world, and on the other hand, scared shitless. What if no one buys my book? What if people don’t like it? What if they hate it? What if they think I’m terrible? What if they think the story is from personal experience? Moment of truth, that last one was and probably always will be my biggest fear.

There’s a whole world of romance readers out there who will read my book. It’s not those people I’m concerned about; it’s those who know me and are near and dear. Or maybe it’s my neighbor that knows me but doesn’t know me. That’s who I’m worried about. All of a sudden, a year after starting down this path, I’m scared people I know will have already read my book in the week that it’s been out, then look me in the eye at the launch party and think, “Wow, this lady is crazy with the stuff she’s into.”

There it is—my truth. Over all other fears, that’s it. So, here’s the message I sent to my followers one last time before the book was released. The scenes, sex scenes to be exact, are not from personal experience. They are a work of fiction, pure imagination stemming from years of reading these types of books. It’s not me, it’s not my husband. It’s not real. So, for those who know me personally, don’t read my book wondering if it’s John and I. It’s not. Okay, rant over, point made, anxiety released. Sort of. Not really.

Moving on to fear number two. What if people hate my book? There are going to be people that hate it. It’s scary and disheartening. But it’s going to happen. It already has happened. My book is not for everyone. It’s for people who read very spicy romance. It should probably have a disclaimer, don’t read it unless you’re okay with porn. Yes, I said it. It is porn but with a terrific love story and plot, and unforgettable characters. In fact, if this is what porn looked like, we all might watch it.

Fear number three, what if it doesn’t sell? Valid fear? Maybe. Worth thinking about? Not. At. All. It won’t change my mind to keep going, to continue writing, and do it all over again. I hope my book ends up selling millions of copies. Not likely to happen for my first book, but hey, a girl can dream. Regardless of how many copies sell, book number two is coming. Book number three is coming. And book number twenty will be coming someday.

So, what happened on release day? I woke up, went immediately to Amazon, and saw my book for sale for the first time ever! Then, I refreshed the page all day to watch the numbers rise. Kidding. Not kidding. It was absolutely addicting and all-consuming for not only the first day but the whole first week. I finally backed off after that and started looking at most once a day.

My husband is the best and booked me a 90-minute massage for launch day so I could start by relaxing. Best decision ever and will probably become a tradition for future books. It was invaluable to let go of all the anxiety I’d been feeling leading up to that day and take a break from the multitude of tasks I still had to do.

I can tell you now, having survived the book launch party, many people had already read the book that week. All positive comments, but a few insisted that some of it must be from personal experience and wouldn’t listen otherwise. Oh well. I’m learning to take it with a grain of salt. What a wild ride and roller coaster of emotions it has been. And the best part? I get to do it all over again in a few months, but this time, I’ll know what I’m doing—maybe.