Sean (Right-Hook) Reilly knows a few things about himself. One, he's the middle-weight boxing champion of the world with an undefeated record. Two, women find his cocky persona, chiseled biceps, and inked body sexy. Also, the fact that it's known that he doesn't do relationships only adds to his sex appeal. And three, he's Irish, proud of it, and a member of the Braithreachas Don Saol, a branch of the Irish mafia and king pins of the drug cartel taking over the streets of Cleveland.
Connor Doyle(aka Connie) the boss and leader of the Braithreachas Don Saol, has been like a father to Sean, taking him under his wing and teaching him how to survive on the streets after the death of his parents. Sean has never been ungrateful, but has always wanted one thing...
More. More to live for. More to fight for. More to believe in. A chance at a future without drugs or guns. A chance at a future without wondering which day will be his last.
There's only one problem with that. You live by the braithreachas. You die by the braithreachas. And Sean knows whether Connie considers him to be family or not, the only way he'll be leaving the braithreachas is in a body bag.
Hadlee Flax has had a year to overcome her issues. After almost being raped and brutalized, she's putting her best foot forward, seeing a therapist, and has even(with some persuasion from her best friend, Lara) enrolled in self defense classes. And she's doing well moving on with her life until she meets the dark, and conflicted Irish boxing champion of the world, Sean Reilly.
Hadlee is immediately drawn to the gorgeous, cold, and mysterious man who speaks with a slight Irish brogue. She soon learns that there is much more to him than his darkened gaze, cool demeanor, and body covered in tattoos. He's not the type of man she thought he was. And Hadlee finds herself doing something she never thought she would do in the last year...
Falling for a guy.
Falling for Sean Reilly. A man who is on the path to becoming a boxing legend.
One thing Hadlee doesn't know is the other part of Seans' life. His life of drug running, and killing. Or the fact that when he's not boxing he's walking the streets with a gat tucked into the back of his loose jeans, and glancing over his shoulder at every turn.
But it doesn't take Hadlee long to learn that some attractions and relationships can be fatal.
And sometimes...
They just might be worth fighting for.
Goodreads page - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15700987-12-rounds 
It all began with a dinosaur, a T-Rex to be exact. He was the main character in my very first short story. Me and T, well, we went places. He is the reason I won my first essay contest at age ten. And he is probably one of the number one reasons, I pursued a career in writing.
Throughout highschool, I was what you would call a rebel. Someone who had convinced herself that she had life figured out at age sixteen. Still, writing was my only safe-haven during that time. I wrote notebooks full of poetry, even writing fellow classmates papers for them.
Unbeknowest to me, creative writing, seemed to be my one, true calling, my passion in life.
At age twenty, I began writing my first novel. After that, everything seemed to fall into place.
I won Best Poets and Poems of 2007, and The Editor's Choice award for my poem, Summer Days.
Also, during that time I wrote or co-wrote fifteen different screenplays, some which earned me finalist spot in various screenplay competitions.
In 2010, I've come full force, with my novel Love Sucks, that was released by Punkin House Press, in August of 2010. On top of Love Sucks, I have six novels that are slated to be released through the next five years. Also, doing some various marketing work for authors and publishers.
I pride myself in telling fellow writers to always follow their dreams. Who knows where I would be if I would have given up.
Lauren’s Links: Website -
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http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4115682.Lauren_Hammond Twitter -
https://twitter.com/#!/NovelistLauren Facebook -
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lauren-Hammond/100755776636370Excerpt Thank you so much for having me on the blog today! I’m super excited to share an excerpt of 12 Rounds with you all. I hope you enjoy it!
Hadlee lifts her chin, narrowing her eyes. “What sort of things?”
Gee, I don’t know. The mob. One of the most notorious drug cartels in the state. I could go on forever with this list. “It’s complicated.”
She walks across the room and plops down on my couch. She pats the empty spot next to her, giving me a stern look. “I have time. I can listen. I’d like you to elaborate. I’d like you to tell me about,” she makes quotation marks with her finger, “these things you’re mixed up in.” She exhales sharply. “And I don’t want to hear it’s complicated again. You can’t friggin shut me out, Sean. You have to tell me what’s going on. That’s what you do in a relationship. You communicate. You talk things out. Even when things are bad trust and communication is important. I can’t lie in bed alone every night worrying about you or having jealous feelings. I’ve just now built myself back up to being an almost stable person. Almost. And I don’t want that stability to slip away again. I don’t want to go back to the beginning and have to try and find all the pieces of me to put myself back together again.”
I eye the clock. I’ve got ten minutes to make it downtown. Even though I’d love nothing more than to tell her everything, I know that right now, my time is limited. “Hadlee, I can’t right now but I—”
She cuts me off with a hand gesture and stands, “Forget it.” She storms to my door and grips the knob. I grab her by the wrist, but she wrenches her arm away. “If being honest with me is too much for you then I can’t do this.”
The pain twisted on her features is what stabs my heart. I swallow hard, wanting to scream at her, but I don’t. I want to tell her how much she means to me and how I’d die for her, but I can’t. I want to tell her that she’s brought more into my life in the last three months than anyone has in the last seven years. She’s given me something I thought I’d never have. She’s given me hope. “Hadlee, you wouldn’t understand if I told you.”
Her fingers slip from the doorknob and her voice lowers to a rasp, “Try me.”
“I don’t have time!” I yell in frustration. “Connie hates it when I’m late!”
She glances at me, a glint of anger in her eyes. “Does this Connie guy run your life? Doesn’t he understand that he just called you out of bed at two in the morning? It’s awfully selfish of him to treat you like a dog and expect you to come running whenever he whistles for you.” Her fingers slide up my cheekbones and her eyes flit over my face. She studying me, willing me to look into her eyes, but I don’t.
I won’t.
I can’t.
“Sean, you don’t have to go. You can stay here. You can talk to me. I promise you, I’ll do the best I can to understand.”
I let out a chuckle laced with a chill of madness. “I have to go.” There’s so much I want to say right now, but I can’t. Not only can I not find words, but there’s pressure building in chest. I feel like I can’t breathe. I know what’s coming. I know that the only person I’ve ever cared about, or maybe even loved is about to walk out of my door.
And there’s nothing I can do to stop her.
Purchase links for 12 Rounds: Amazon ebook -
http://www.amazon.com/12-Rounds-Knockout-Series-ebook/dp/B008RADQ6K/ref=pd_sim_kstore_6 Barnes & Noble ebook -
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/12-rounds-lauren-hammond/1112326927?ean=2940014919043
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