5 Smooches!

Synopsis

I’m cursed.

At least when it comes to finding Mr. Right.

I’m tired of men that only want one night stands or blind dates that are nothing but awkward and uncomfortable. I’m tired of avoiding inappropriate text messages and the constant disappointment of always meeting Mr. Wrong.

After all these years of dates that lead nowhere, I can admit that it’s me. I’m the problem. I’m shy and picky and cursed. Definitely cursed.

So I’ve decided two things.

The first? I’m giving up dating and relationships and men in general. Maybe, possibly, forever.

The second? I’m going to have to try harder to avoid Ezra Baptiste.

If I couldn’t hack it in the kiddy pool of dating, I certainly can’t swim in his deep end. He’s too successful. Too intense. He’s all man when I’m used to nothing but boys pretending to be grownups. He’s everything I’m afraid to want and so far out of my league we might as well be different species entirely.

So he’ll need to find a different artist to paint his mural. And a different graphic designer to help him with his website. He’ll need to find someone else to glare at and flirt with and kiss.

It can’t be me.

We’re too different.

REVIEW

After reading the first book in this series, I was really excited for Ezra and Molly’s story.  I loved a good enemies to lovers and this one really took the cake.  Molly is flighty, artsy and super laid back.  Ezra is an uptight workaholic.  What happens when Ezra decides that he wants Molly to work for him?  Fireworks all over the gosh darn place.

Gah, I loved the witty banter.  The fun emails.  The ups and downs off their relationship.  The mad moments.  The funny ones.  The sexy times.  This book had a little of everything and I absolutely adored watching these two go from enemies to friends to lovers.  And Ezra really surpised me.  I didn’t expect him to be so kind.  So very good to his core.  The author threw me for a loop with his character and I ended up absolutely adoring him.

This one was really great.  A super addition to the Opposites Attract Series.  I cannot wait for more from her!

“I’m not sure I can remember a time when I didn’t want to kiss you.”

~Amie

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4 Smooches!

Synopsis

To believe one person can change your destiny sounds absurd. But it happened to me… twice.

Ten years ago I had no idea what I wanted out of life, until I met Hannah Michaels. She was a computer-engineering student ready to conquer the social media world, and I was smitten. Even though I knew she was taken, I had to have her.

Being the big shot that I was, I didn’t let her status stand in my way. It wasn’t long before my hands were on her thighs and my name a whisper on her lips. This smart, sexy girl inspired me to greatness, helped me grow into the kind of man I never knew I wanted to be. The man I am today.

Too bad I hadn’t grown fast enough to keep her.

Moving on wasn’t easy, but I knew I had to let her go. Eventually, I found someone to share my days and nights with, and together we had a daughter. My life was nearly perfect until my world turned upside down.

A single father has challenges, and one of those is learning how to calmly deal with your child coming home in tears. I had no idea the day I pounded on my daughter’s classmate’s door, Hannah would be the one standing on the other side.

The wild, burning desire that roared through my veins was unwanted, and yet impossible to ignore. Letting her in meant so much more this time around. Guilt hit me like a hammer. I hated myself. I hated her. The problem was I really didn’t hate her—I wanted her more than ever.

But this time around I can’t have her.

This time it’s my status that stands in our way. And going up against myself just might be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

REVEW

Bethany

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5 SMOOCHES!

SYNOPSIS:

Ghost [gohst] noun: the soul of a dead person, a disembodied, vague, shadowy spirit wandering among or haunting living persons; a mere shadow or semblance; a trace.

That noun sums up Ghost and what his life has become with painful precision. He is barely living, merely existing but never thriving. There wasn’t much that could pull him from the darkness he willingly inhabits…except one thing. Her.
She is the reason he’s done what he’s done, and his life has become what it has become.

He haunts his former life, lurking in the background, surviving on occasional glimpses of the only thing good that is left in his miserable life. The horror he has inflicted upon her is nothing compared to the terror that waits for her when someone moves in to take her from him.

The thing about being stuck in the past is that it is like walking through life backwards. She is always looking back, so she doesn’t see what is happening in front of her. Unfortunately for her, it turns out that the ghosts of the past aren’t nearly as terrifying as the monsters of the future.

They say that true love is like a ghost, something that many talk about but few have seen. It’s a good thing for that, too, because he’ll need that element of surprise to protect her. Hopefully when the dust settles, he’ll be able to resurrect more than just himself.

REVIEW:

As a huge Lani Lynn Vale fan, I, like the rest of her diehard readers, have been eagerly anticipating the release of this book. Seriously, the wait for Beard Up has been like the romance book world’s version of who shot JR! Vale has been having a grand old time dropping hints and mercilessly teasing her readers, hoarding details and carefully doling out information about this book. She created a firestorm amongst her readers as they debated and speculated about this hero’s identity. As a long-time fan who’s read every word she’s written, I’ve enjoyed that added element of camaraderie and excitement surrounding each release in the Dixie Wardens Rejects series.

I’m going to be purposefully vague in this review because, as I stated, the identity of the hero is an enormous spoiler. It’s no secret that I’m a diehard Lani Lynn Vale fan. I love her books, I love her writing style and the fictional worlds she’s created in Kilgore, Benton and now Mooresville. Her sense of humor is a never-miss source of amusement for me, and everything about her books from the way she pieces them together to the plots and the characters just seem to tick off all my boxes. It all comes together for me, every single time, and it’s why she’s secured a spot as one my top favorite authors.

So, while I may always be impressed with this author’s work, I’m thrilled to say that she is in top form here and exceeded my high expectations of her. Vale penned a suspenseful, sexy and satisfying read full of emotion that drew me in from the first page and made this a difficult book to put down. It was positively gut-wrenching watching this hero haunt his former life, and his longing to return to it was a palpable thing. I felt genuine relief – mine and the heroine’s –  when the pieces snapped into place for her. Their reunion was loving and sexy, and I cheered this couple on as they reconnected and made up for lost time.

One of my favorite parts of any Lani Lynn Vale book is her unique sense of humor. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and witty, and she used it here to balance out the emotion and intrigue with astounding success. More than just hot and hilarious, though, Beard Up was action-packed with an interesting, exciting suspense plot. As if all of that wasn’t enough to catapult this book on to my 2017 top favorites list, readers are treated to liberal appearances by many characters from previous Dixie Wardens books in this book.

Vale’s Dixie Wardens Rejects series, along with the last few books in the Dixie Wardens series, have all been leading up to this book, and Lani Lynn Vale did not disappoint. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this book, enduring months of insinuations in her books, and I can honestly say that it was well worth the wait. She delivered a soul-healing, hard-earned, second-chance love story that was passionate, moving and exciting. Quite simply, she not only lived up to the hype she created around this book, she knocked it out of the park, and it’s is my opinion that Beard Up is Lani Lynn Vale’s best work yet. Five smooches from me!

~ Danielle Palumbo

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5 Smooches!

Synopsis

I need you, Ava.

I am desperate. For you. For touch. For a kiss. For the scrape of your hand down my stomach. For the slide of your lips across my hipbone. The sweep of your thigh against mine in the dulcet, drowning darkness. For the warm huff of your breath on my skin and the wet suck of your mouth around me and the building pressure of need reaching release…I am mad with need.

Wild with it.

I cannot have you. I have lost you, as I have lost myself.

And so I go in search. Of myself, and thus the man who might return to you, and take you in his arms.

I loathe each of the thousands of miles between us, but I cannot wish them away, for I hope at the end of my journey I shall find you. Or rather, find myself, and thus…you. Myself, and thus us.

I am taking the long way home, Ava.

***

Christian,

I’m losing my mind, and I don’t know how to stop it. I shouldn’t be writing to you, but I am. I’m friendless, loveless, and lifeless. You’re out there somewhere, and still you’re all I really have. I hate my reliance and dependence on you, emotionally and otherwise, and that reliance is something I’m coming to recognize. I hate that I can’t hate you as much as I want to. I hate that I still love you so much.

I hate that there’s no clear solution to our conundrum. Even if we could forgive each other, what then?

I hate you, Christian. I really do.

But most of all, I don’t.

It’s complicated.

Complicatedly (still) yours,

Ava

THE LONG WAY HOME is the story of a married couple, Christian and Ava, both writers, as they cope with the loss of their son and the damage that loss causes to their marriage. This moving story, alternately heartbreaking and heartwarming, is the first in a brand-new contemporary romance series by bestselling author Jasinda Wilder.

REVIEW

Christian and Ava are married but after they suffer a terrible tragedy they both struggle to cope and in the end Christian sees no other way out than to leave and travel the sea to try with the grief but this separation rips them further apart bit by bit. Ultimately Christian and Ava must try to find a way to overcome the tragedy and the sadness but also be able to forgive themselves and each other. Will they be able to find their way back to each other again or will what happened keep them apart forever? 

“Ava, my love: you have always been the best part of me, and through you we created Henry, our son, and in him I found completion and strength and purpose. Now that he is gone, I have lost those things, and I have lost you, and thus I have lost myself.”

I honestly can’t find the words to describe this book. It was so utterly heartbreaking and yet utterly beautiful at the same time. The grief, sadness, anger and bitterness literally breathed from the pages into me. I could feel Christian’s and Ava grief through their words. At the same time there was also a story of courage to move forward, fight to not let go and determination and love to never give up hope of the one you love. 

“I hate you. But I also love you. If I saw you right now, I’d probably punch you straight in your perfect Roman nose and then kiss your stupid perfect lips. And then ugly cry, snot and all. And then rip your clothes off and ride you like a stallion. Or maybe all of those at once. Kiss you, punch you, and f*** you, all while ugly crying.”

I’m not sure how others will think but I honestly liked both Christian and Ava. I couldn’t be angry at Christian for leaving because I understood how much sadness he was feeling and that he truly couldn’t see another way out of it and I understood that Ava was angry at home for leaving and also trying to deal with her own grief. Their emotions made them so realistic and what we really saw with them was just two people trying overcome tragedy in their own way. 

“The tug of war between needing you, wanting you, loving you, and hating you, loathing you, reviling you…is just too strong and too painful.”

I loved the way the story was done with the journal entries, letters and emails. It made me connect even more with the characters, as if they were writing to me. The plot itself wasn’t easy going at all, it is a hard read but it is also so rewarding once you do. The ending really surprised me and I am desperate for the next book to find out what happens next. I am praying there is happiness at the end of Christians and Ava’s story but I know that it might not be possible or maybe the happiness will come in a different way I am hoping? Who knows- what I do know is that this book will make you cry and want to shout your anger at the unfairness but it will capture you and hook you and you won’t want to put it down.

BETHANY 

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