The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series makes her suspense debut with this sexy, heartpounding story of a young woman determined to find justice after her best friend’s death, a story pulsing with the “intense, hot, emotional” (Colleen Hoover) writing that exhilarates her legions of fans.

A woman who almost had it all . . .

On the surface, Celine Gonzalez had everything a twenty-eight-year-old woman could want: a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a job that (mostly) paid the bills, and an acceptance letter to the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where she would finally live out her dream of becoming an antiques appraiser for a major auction house. All she had worked so hard to achieve was finally within her reach. So why would she kill herself?

A man who was supposed to be her salvation . . .

Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a lethal cocktail of pills and vodka, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers a scandalous photograph in a lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man Celine believed would change her life.

Until he became her ruin.

On the hunt for evidence that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer. A killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered.

Check out our 5 smooches review HERE

He Will Be My Ruin -tour teaser 2

Excerpt

These are Celine’s most private things. No one was ever supposed to find them.

With slightly shaky hands, I shift my focus to the bottom of the closet, where shoe boxes and storage containers are stacked in tidy piles. I toss them about, rooting through the contents, anxious over what I might find.

Until I come to a decorative box of dangly necklaces and bracelets, made from giant stones. An uneducated person might mistake them for costume jewelry, but I know that the diamonds are real. I can tell by their sparkle. Several receipts sit at the bottom of the box, indicating a pawnshop where it looks like Celine had already sold some pieces.

I crawl on my hands and knees to check under the bed. Nothing but a single dust bunny—the soul survivor of Celine’s excessive cleaning regime—hides there.

I toss the lamp onto the recently delivered and freshly made bed—the silk white shade bends but I don’t care—and pull apart the makeshift end table, yanking the long and narrow crates apart to hit the hardwood in a loud clatter.

Books spill out everywhere.

The crates are full of little books, ranging from pink journals with unicorns to leather-bound diaries with locks. No keys included.

I didn’t know Celine kept a diary. But of course she did. She liked keeping track of everything. It only makes sense that she would keep track of her life.

I gather every last one and spread them out across the bed. Hoping that somewhere in here I’ll find a reasonable answer…

Dreading the truth.

About K.A. Tucker:

Born in small-town Ontario, K.A. Tucker published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.

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1 comment

Feb 01

He Will Be My Ruin by K.A. Tucker Review

By Miranda Arnold in 5 Smooches, Reviews

5 Smooches

Synopsis

A woman who almost had it all . . .

On the surface, Celine Gonzalez had everything a twenty-eight-year-old woman could want: a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a job that (mostly) paid the bills, and an acceptance letter to the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where she would finally live out her dream of becoming an antiques appraiser for a major auction house. All she had worked so hard to achieve was finally within her reach. So why would she kill herself?

A man who was supposed to be her salvation . . .

Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a lethal cocktail of pills and vodka, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers a scandalous photograph in a lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man Celine believed would change her life.

Until he became her ruin.

On the hunt for evidence that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer. A killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered.

Review

WOW! Where do even begin when reviewing this insanely addictive and suspenseful book. I adore K.A. Tuckers books and while many of her other novels have been romances that develop during the course of a mystery this story is incredibly unique from those in that while it has some small romantic and sexual aspects the main focus is on solving the crime and the twists and turns that happen during the course of the main characters investigation.

“This man was once my salvation. Now he will be my ruin.”

So often in the book I thought I knew who this tag line was talking about only to turn the page and have a whole new theory. I love to be kept on my twos and the way the information slowly unfolded for Maggie, our heroine, made it impossible to guess what the outcome would be.

“Money is a tantalizing whore, isn’t she.”

Maggie is in New York, a place she hates, to pack up the belongs of her closest friend who has just dies of an apparent suicide but during the process it is clear that things just do not add up and soon one small hunch turns into a full fledged attempt to get all the information she can and solve the murder of her dearest friend, a friend who had way more secrets than Maggie could have ever guessed. I so desperately want to dissect and reveal every surprising plot twist but then you my dear reader would know them all way too soon but trust me each page is like a puzzle piece and they don’t all fit together perfectly till you get to the very end.

“I have an unwritten rule against two dicks in one day. It’s a new rule, because the opportunity has never arisen before, but it’s one I’m feeling committed to.”

While the book has a very serious tone to it overall, KA Tucker did a great job at lightening the mood here and there to keep the story moving. As always I adore her writing style and love how her characters always feel so real to me. A true highlight for me was that this book was more about the depths of friendship than anything else. Maggie and Celine had been best friends for most of their lives and that kind of love and commitment does not disappear upon death.

“Everyone has secrets.”

He Will Be My Ruin is fast paced, suspenseful and will have you guessing all the way through.

~miranda

Buy It Now

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Feb 01

Chasing Spring by R.S. Grey Release Blitz

By Miranda Arnold in Reveals & Tours

Title: Chasing Spring

Author: R.S. Grey

Release Date: Feb 1, 2016

Find on Goodreads

I thought I’d left Blackwater, Texas behind for good. I didn’t belong in the small town, but my dad wouldn’t listen. He dragged me back home in his beat-up truck and dropped a bomb along the way: Chase Matthews was moving in with us. He was the golden boy of my high school, my former best friend, and the last person I wanted sleeping across the hall. His presence was too great a reminder of the ghosts I was trying to forget.

I didn’t ask for a hero. I don’t want to be saved.

To me, Lilah Calloway meant late nights sneakin’ out, moonlit hair, and sparklers in July. She was my best friend until the day she left and I’d assumed Blackwater had seen the last of her. Then, like a tempest, she rolled back into town for the final half of senior year. The chopped hair and dark devil-may-care attitude warned most people away, but I knew if I fought hard enough, I could find the lost girl.

I didn’t want to be her hero. Some girls don’t need to be saved.

Check out our 4.5 smooches review HERE

Amazon

I am a lover of books, chocolate, reality TV, black labs, and cold weather. Seriously, if I had it my way, I would be curled up on the couch with all of those things… everyday.

I live in Texas where I spend my free time writing and reading. My favorite authors include Mindy Kaling & Jonathan Safran Foer. I’m a comedy geek and love all things “funny”. Women like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Mindy Kaling are definitely the biggest inspirations for my writing, though I think my work tends to skew a bit smuttier than theirs.

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Feb 01

Chasing Spring by R.S. Grey Review

By Miranda Arnold in 4.5 Smooches, Reviews

4.5 Smooches

Synopsis

I thought I’d left Blackwater, Texas behind for good. I didn’t belong in the small town, but my dad wouldn’t listen. He dragged me back home in his beat-up truck and dropped a bomb along the way: Chase Matthews was moving in with us. He was the golden boy of my high school, my former best friend, and the last person I wanted sleeping across the hall. His presence was too great a reminder of the ghosts I was trying to forget.

I didn’t ask for a hero. I don’t want to be saved.

To me, Lilah Calloway meant late nights sneakin’ out, moonlit hair, and sparklers in July. She was my best friend until the day she left and I’d assumed Blackwater had seen the last of her. Then, like a tempest, she rolled back into town for the final half of senior year. The chopped hair and dark devil-may-care attitude warned most people away, but I knew if I fought hard enough, I could find the lost girl.

I didn’t want to be her hero. Some girls don’t need to be saved.

Review

“Why aren’t you as messed up as I am, Chase? After everything that’s happened?”

I don’t read a ton of YA anymore and now after reading Chasing Spring I am reminded why I have always loved it so much. There is just something about watching people tether the lines between their childhood and becoming adults. RS Grey has written that line beautifully and full of emotion.

‘But Chase had said it best: this was our story and happy endings are few and far between.’

Lilah and Chase were best friends, until her mom dies and she left. Now they are nothing anymore. But Lilah is back in the small town they both call home and circumstances have Chase living with her and her dad. She is determined to avoid him for her senior year before she can get away for good but each moment she is near him that becomes more and more impossible. Both Chase and Lilah have incredibly tragic past involving their mothers who were best friends but each has dealt with it completely differently to the point it is so unclear if the two of them could ever move past it all to become friend again or possibly even more.

‘I’d never asked him to take me to the gray. I was perfectly happy living in the black.’

I have been a huge fan of R.S. Grey’s since I picked up my first book by her and will be honest was apprehensive of this new story. I love her contemporary romantic comedy so when I heard that this was going to be a more serious mature young adult novel dealing with issues such as substance abuse, death and abandonment I was nervous. This could not have been more different but R.S. proved that she is not to be pigeonholed and that she can write the heck out of a more serious topic.

‘I hated how stubbornly I loved Lilah.’

I do want to stress that while I call this mature YA that has more to do with the seriousness of the issues involved and the maturity of the characters than it has to do with sex and any kind of sexual relationship. I am not saying there is not a incredibly strong romance with definite sexual undertones to it, because there is, I just don’t want yo going into this story with the idea that you are going to get more out of it in that area than is intended. But trust me, you don’t need it. The story is strong and the plot dynamic. You will be grabbed from page one and like me you will be so happy you gave this YA book a shot.

~miranda

Buy It Now

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Feb 01

Happily Ever Ninja by Penny Reid Blog Tour with Excerpt and Giveaway

By Miranda Arnold in Reveals & Tours

Happily Ever Ninja

by Penny Reid

Publication Date:

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Humor

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes

From the USA Today Best Selling Author of ‘Truth or Beard’

There are three things you need to know about Fiona Archer… I would tell you what they are, but then I’d have to kill you.

But I can tell you that Fiona’s husband—the always irrepressible and often cantankerous Greg Archer—is desperately in love with his wife. He aches for her when they are apart, and is insatiable when they are together. Yet as the years pass, Greg has begun to suspect that Fiona is a ninja. A ninja mom. A ninja wife. A ninja friend. After fourteen years of marriage, Greg is trying not to panic. Because Fiona’s talent for blending in is starting to resemble fading away.

However, when unexpected events mean Fiona must take center stage to keep her family safe, her response stuns everyone—Greg most of all. It seems like Greg’s wish has come true.

Except… not.

When all is said and done, can Greg handle this new version of his wife? Will his irrepressible cantankerousness push her away? Or can the couple find a way forward without either being forced to step back into the shadows?

This is a full length, 100k word novel, and is the 5th book in the Knitting in the City Series. All books in the series can be read as a standalone except book #1.5