Ink & Lies
by S.L. Jennings
Releasing February 2016
Synopsis
From International Best Selling Romance Novelist, Hope Hughes, comes a gripping, heartfelt tale of two lovers, fighting for the freedom to…
No. Scratch that. Too cheesy. Continue reading
Jan 07
Progress by Amalie Silver Cover Reveal
Jesse
I admit, I didn’t think much of Charlie at first. She was rounder than the girls who usually caught my eye. Not my type. But when I saw her sitting in that booth alone, for the first time something in my mind or my instincts or my heart told me to join her.
She defied me.
She challenged me.
She gave me hope.
Before I knew it, moving forward was my only option.
Charlie
I couldn’t tell you when it happened, but it had to have been a gradual change; I never moved too quickly.
If someone would have told me earlier that year what I was going to go through, I wouldn’t have believed them.
Jesse was so different from anyone I’d met before. And everyone I’ve met since. He sucked all the life out of me, in the best—and worst—ways.
We don’t get strong overnight. For most of us it takes time. Strength isn’t measured by how high and fast our walls go up, but how easily we can watch them fall.
Amazon US I Amazon UK I Amazon CA I Amazon AU
Amalie Silver resides in Minnesota with her husband, two toddlers, and German Short-haired Pointer, Saba. She consumes approximately three pots of coffee a day, and credits this for her survival over the past decade.
When not completely consumed in her writing, she can be found taking road trips to northern Minnesota, engaging in fierce Scrabble games, or reading a good book. She’s a sucker for all romance genres, literary fiction, and psychological fiction.
Jan 06
Sebring by Kristen Ashley Blog Tour with Excerpt and Giveaway
Sebring (Unfinished Heroes #5)
by Kristen Ashley
January 11th, 2016
Blurb:
Nick Sebring has issues. Born feeling like an outsider in his own family, growing up under the shadow of a brother who could do anything, Nick isn’t that great of a guy. But when this culminates with Nick lashing out to hurt his brother through the woman he loves, Nick turns inward and makes some decisions about the man he intends to be.
And as he does this, he falls in love and truly learns the man that he’s grown to be.
When his love is murdered right before Nick’s eyes, Nick knows he has to avenge her. He knows how he’s going to avenge her. And he has no qualms using Olivia Shade to exact that vengeance.
Olivia Shade has grown up on the outside of her family too. Her problem is that they don’t want her outside. They want her all the way in, right under their thumbs. She pays the price for seeking escape and learns her lesson—she’ll never see a dawn where she wakes up free.
Then she meets Nick Sebring, and even as she fights it, the hope that died years ago starts to blossom. She can find love. She can have a man of her own. She can be happy. She can be free.
Olivia hopes while Nick schemes.
However, as Nick peels back the layers of all that is Olivia Shade, he finds something surprising. He understands its fragility. He falls in love with its beauty. He seeks to protect it.
But he forgets to protect his Livvie from one thing: Nick Sebring.
Check out our 5 smooches review HERE.
Excerpt:
In the hotel room, Nick heard the knock at the door.
He moved to it, looked out the peephole and felt the corners of his mouth hitch up when he saw her.
Fuck, those big green eyes, perfectly arched dark brows, the olive tint to her skin, the expert way she shaded under her cheekbones…
She was a coldhearted criminal but she was one that was very easy to look at.
And even easier to fuck.
He opened the door.
He was going to say something but he didn’t get the chance when her hand darted out and she caught him under his jaw, using it to push him in and around until his back hit wall.
She stared up at him, her hand wrapped around his jaw, her expression holding an emptiness that was so extreme it was almost like a void he could fall into and get lost forever.
He heard the door swish closed and latch.
Then she was up on her toes, her head moving toward his, those green eyes dropping to his mouth.
She didn’t get her lips to his before his tongue was out, as was hers, both of them colliding and tangling before her mouth slammed to his just as her body pushed in, pressing hard, forcing him tighter to the wall.
He shoved out. Gripping her wrist at his jaw, he yanked it down, twisting and slamming her against the wall, slanting his head to deepen an already deep kiss. Their tongues again clashing before he actually took her mouth.
But he took her mouth.
And like she’d done to his, he consumed it.
His fingers still around her wrist, he yanked it around his back, using his body to shove her tight to the wall, pressing his hardening cock against her stomach.
She arched, and moving quickly, whipped him around so his back was to the wall and she took over the kiss. Tearing her wrist from his hold, she curled her fingers around his throat just as she cupped his hardening crotch with her other hand.
Fucking hell, this woman was hot.
But he was done playing.
And he was done kissing.
Her mouth, that was.
He pushed her away. She struggled to regain control.
She lost this struggle when he caught her hand and dragged her down the short hall into the room.
She lost her footing when he gave her hand a strong tug and she fell into him with a soft gasp.
He let her hand go, caught her hips and threw her four feet onto the bed.
That got him another soft gasp which took his cock from hardening to rock-solid and throbbing.
He bent over her, holding her now intense green gaze, spanning her hips with his hands. Shoving backwards, he found the hook of her skirt, released it and pulled down the zipper.
He moved his fingers to curl them into the sides of her skirt’s waistband. With a vicious tug that took her hips and panties with it, he yanked off the skirt.
Chest to the bed, eyes to her cunt, the black curls neatly groomed with a precision that meant her wax technician was a master with possible OCD issues, they were also glistening with wet.
Having the tussle at the door, seeing the utter perfection of her pussy, smelling her, watching her legs part in invitation, her knees shifting up, Nick couldn’t have gone gentle if he’d wanted to.
Luckily he didn’t want to.
He bent his neck and devoured her.
Fuck, she tasted just as perfect as she looked.
As he fed, he felt her excitement ramp. Tasted it. Ate it. Gave her more. Consumed the result. Drove her to the edge.
And when he had her there, he stopped and moved over her.
Not surprisingly, she used both the pump she already had planted into the bed and the calf she had wrapped around him to flip him and then she was straddling him, pushing up, her hands already to his fly.
Normally, he would not allow this.
Her face flushed with need, her manner urgent, even desperate, all that surged through his blood, his gut, straight to his cock.
So he allowed this.
She tugged his pants down, grabbed his dick, guided it to her and took him home.
At the beauty of her sheathing him, he gritted his teeth against the urge to let go and release way too fucking early. Bucking his hips, he watched how much she liked taking him, her head thrown back, her shining, straight mass of silken black hair swaying.
Then she dropped forward into a hand in the bed by his side, locked eyes with him and rode him violently as he watched until she gave it to herself and she kept doing it until she forced it from him.
Fucking spectacular.
He came down buried inside her, his eyes opening to see her still resting in her hand in the bed, her body moving gently with her still-labored-but-evening breathing, her dark hair framing her oval face, her straight bangs brushing her lashes, her green eyes locked to his trying to brand him, make him hers.
No way in fuck that was happening.
But he’d take more of this.
A lot more.
That said, the woman was going to learn how to give up control.
Not surprisingly, without a word, she swung off his cock, moving immediately toward the side of the mattress.
Nick focused on pulling up his trousers, doing the fly and angling off the bed. By the time he was up and had turned his attention back to her, she was on her feet, facing him, arms twisted behind her to do up the skirt she’d put on.
He held her gaze.
“We got all night, Olivia,” he informed her.
Not even a hint of a response to him calling her the name she hadn’t given him.
Then again, he knew she knew him; she’d make it her business.
She also knew he’d do the same with her, even before he sat next to her the night before.
Her expression might not have changed but his words spurred her to action, this being walking his way.
She stopped. Her eyes still on his, she lifted a hand and touched his chest lightly with just the pad of her middle finger.
It lasted half a second.
Then she dropped her hand, turned and walked away.
He heard the door close behind her and he couldn’t stop his smile.
Fuck yes, a seriously cool customer.
And the hottest fuck he’d had in his life.
About The Author:
Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.
http://www.kristenashley.net/
Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Jan 06
Sebring by Kristen Ashley Review
4.5 Smooches
Synopsis
Nick Sebring has issues. Born feeling like an outsider in his own family, growing up under the shadow of a brother who could do anything, Nick isn’t that great of a guy. But when this culminates with Nick lashing out to hurt his brother through the woman he loves, Nick turns inward and makes some decisions about the man he intends to be.
And as he does this, he falls in love and truly learns the man that he’s grown to be.
When his love is murdered right before Nick’s eyes, Nick knows he has to avenge her. He knows how he’s going to avenge her. And he has no qualms using Olivia Shade to exact that vengeance.
Olivia Shade has grown up on the outside of her family too. Her problem is that they don’t want her outside. They want her all the way in, right under their thumbs. She pays the price for seeking escape and learns her lesson—she’ll never see a dawn where she wakes up free.
Then she meets Nick Sebring, and even as she fights it, the hope that died years ago starts to blossom. She can find love. She can have a man of her own. She can be happy. She can be free.
Olivia hopes while Nick schemes.
However, as Nick peels back the layers of all that is Olivia Shade, he finds something surprising. He understands its fragility. He falls in love with its beauty. He seeks to protect it.
But he forgets to protect his Livvie from one thing: Nick Sebring.
Review
‘For one magnificent second, connected to Nick Sebring, I believed. I believed in a better world. I believed I could feel complete. I believed I could have someone by my side. I believed I could feel safe. I believed I could be happy. I believed I could be loved. I believed in a dawn coming where I could open my eyes and have all of this only for it to lead to another day dawning where I’d have it and then another day . . . And another . . . And another . . . And another . . . ‘
Whenever a much anticipated Kristen Ashley books appears on my kindle a little early I get all tingly all over. I mean this is KA who doesn’t get excited. Anyone who has been following the Unfinished Heroes series from the start has been on pins and needles waiting for Nick Sebring’s book eagerly and it was absolutely not a let down.
‘Sometimes you got away with dealing day to day with the devil. Sometimes you got burned.’
So here is what makes Sebring unique to me, Olivia is not a great person. She is cold and bitchy and dare I say shady. Life has not been easy for her and out of obligation to her family she works in a life of crime doing things she never wanted to be doing. Nick has always to me been seen as an asshole. He did everything wrong in Knight and left me curious to see how he could change to become a leading man in the end. Love changed him, but not Olivia’s. Nick was in love with his FBI contact and when she was killed he vowed revenge on the man who killed her. Now, years later his quest and her secret life have them crossing paths and on the very first meet their chemistry explodes.
“Not good with orders, Sebring.” “Don’t give a fuck, Olivia.”
First off, Is there anything as delicious as the way a Kristen Ashley man talks? To me they are the epitome of the alpha man and every time they say “Babe”, “Give me the words” or some other KA phrase my panties just melt right off my body.
‘I was done fighting. We had what we had and it was good. And it kept getting better. It had only been a couple of weeks but it was clear Nick had his life, I had mine, he didn’t share or pry, I didn’t either. It didn’t feel surface, what we had, but it also didn’t run deep/ What it did feel was safe.’
What started out an incredibly hot, emotionless and nameless sex grew to a deep, caring and emotional relationship. Absolutely nothing about Nick and Olivia’s story was easy or just simple fun but every word gave me the feels and had me desperate and eager to learn more about these two lost souls. At the beginning of Sebring I was unsure how I felt about the cold and detached Olivia but as the story unfolded and as I got deeper and deeper inside her head it became crystal clear that her attitude was a rouse and something she used to hide behind. Nick slowly works his way in, first through sex only hook ups and eventually as someone she cared deeply for, to bring out the real Olivia and she was a heroine I learned to understand and love.
‘Oh yeah. Fuck yes. She owned him. He’d never been owned. Not even by Hettie. But he was hers. All hers. Olivia’s.’
I am always sad to see a series I love come to a conclusion but I honestly cannot think of a better way for KA to end the Unfinished Heroes. From the start with Knight we knew this would be something different, full of people who walk the grey line, not all good but not all bad. And with Sebring this point came to perfect crescendo. What has been building for five books all came together in the end and I am once again reminded that while her books all have similar feels to them, Kristen Ashley’s stories are as diverse and unique as they could possibly be. I urge you all to five into Sebring and learn how two people on the wrong side of the law can still have a love story for the ages.
“It isn’t for me,” she stated. “What isn’t for you?” “Dawn.” Beyond tweaked, that word made him more so. “Dawn?” I live in dark. Dawn never comes for me. There will be no new day where I wake up complete. Happy. Loved. There is no other side to make my way to. There is no believe. It just isn’t for me.” “I can take you there.” “No you can’t, Sebring. Can’t you see.”
With Sebring, Nick has finally stepped out of his brothers shadow and established himself as a true KA man. Dare I even say that I loved Sebring more than Knight! (GASP) Nick’s journey of personal growth and his ability to become selfless for Olivia just made Sebring completely stand out for me. I can only hope to see him in a cameo in a future book!
~miranda
Buy It Now
Jan 06
Dolce by Rachel Blaufeld Review
Title: Dolce (Love at Center Court #2)
Author: Rachel Blaufeld
Release Date: Jan 21, 2016
Find on Goodreads
“Who just stole my thunder across the Hafton airwaves, you ask? Right now, right this very second, listeners, I have Hafton’s one-and-only, the main man with the ball in hand, Blane Steele is in the studio. Mark my words—he’ll not only steal the ball, but your lady’s heart too. Watch out, gentlemen, the Stealer is in the house!”
— Sonny B. Knocking Boots, Hafton Radio 96.9
Coed antics.
Chaos.
Angst-ridden twists in fate.
Caterina is an intern. Sonny is her shock-jock boss. And Blane is a good-hearted baller…except when he steps on the court. Between on-air dares, an evil feminist professor, a straight-shooter of a coach, and rumors from the league surrounding Steele, these three are destined to screw it all up.
Rather than a love triangle, this is a friends-to-lovers story where the disc jockey acts as the catalyst, and a basketball player finds his life transformed when center court intersects with love.
I stood, flipped off the asshole who’d just destroyed my social life, and strode toward the door. The curvy chick opened it wide for me before I even remembered she was still standing there.
“Thanks,” I mumbled. “After you.”
I leaned into the door frame as I propped the door open with my elbow and gestured for her to walk ahead. Avoiding my eyes, she slipped past me with a muttered thank-you.
As the door clicked shut behind us, I said to her, “Yeah, well, a hand job may be nice, but I guess that’s out after what I promised inside there.” I tilted my head back toward the studio and laughed at my own joke.
She turned and shot me a hard glare, her oversized sweatshirt sagging off one shoulder.
Most other girls I knew would have been fine if I dropped trou right there and whipped my dick right the fuck out. Their hands would have been just itching to grab me. But not this one.
“Kidding. I was kidding.” I lifted my hands in the air in surrender.
All of a sudden, I felt ashamed of my behavior. I wasn’t that guy. Was I?
She raised an eyebrow, making me question my character some more.
“I’m serious. Kidding. Listen, don’t let him boss you around. Once upon a time, Sonny was an intern too. A lowly, pimply one.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Her words were thick with an East Coast accent and heavy with doubt. “See you around,” she said, dismissing me at the supply closet.
Rachel Blaufeld is a bestselling author of Coming of Age, Romantic Suspense, and Sports Romance fiction. She recently asked her readers to describe her, and the adjectives they came up with included: insightful, generous, articulate, and spunky. Originally a social worker, Rachel creates broken yet redeeming characters. She’s been known to turn up the angst like cranking the heat up in the dead of winter.
Turning her focus on her sometimes wild-and-crazy creative side, it only took Rachel two decades to do exactly what she wanted to do—write a fiction novel. Now she spends way too many hours in local coffee shops, downing muffins and plotting her ideas. Her tales may all come with a side of angst and naughtiness, but end deliciously.
Blaufeld, also an entrepreneur/blogger, is fearless about sharing her opinion. Before turning her pen to fiction, she captured the ear of stay-at-home and working moms on her blog, BacknGrooveMom, chronicling her adventures in parenting tweens and inventing a product, often at the same time. She has also blogged for the Huffington Post and Modern Mom.
Most recently, she shares conversations from being “In Bed with a Romance Author” and reading recommendations over at “Happy Ever After”on USA TODAY.
Rachel lives around the corner from her childhood home in Pennsylvania with her family and two beagles. Her obsessions include running, coffee, basketball, icing-filled doughnuts, antiheroes, and mighty fine epilogues.
Jan 06
Counter To My Intelligence by Lani Lynn Vale Release Blitz with Excerpt
Title: Counter To My Intelligence
Series: The Heroes of the Dixie Wardens MC #7
Author: Lani Lynn Vale
Genre: Adult, Motorcycle Club Romance
Release Date: January 6, 2016
Sometimes the heart wants what it can’t have.
That’s the motto Silas Mackenzie, the president of The Dixie Wardens MC, has lived by since he was a young man.
Now he’s well on the way to middle age, has three grown children, and he’s lusting after a woman he should definitely stay away from.
Especially not one that his ex-girlfriend had given birth to, and happened to be only twenty seven years old.
Sawyer isn’t a young girl at heart, though.
She’s seen the inside of a jail cell for eight long years, and every one of them she spent paying for a crime she didn’t commit.
Silas Mackenzie knows as soon as he sees her that the girl has sacrificed enough.
And maybe…just maybe…so has Silas.
It’s time for Silas Mackenzie to get what he deserves, and put a little bit of happy back into Sawyer’s world, one rough, bearded kiss at a time.
Check out our 5 smooches review HERE.
“I like your vest.”
“It’s called a cut,” he muttered laughingly.
“What’s a cut?” I asked.
The hail and rain got worse, hitting the roof and the side of the garage like tiny little battering rams.
“A leather vest,” he quipped.
I giggled against his chest, turning my face so it could rest against his neck.
He growled when I kissed his exposed throat, but otherwise didn’t move.
“Joking aside, it’s my club. The cut is me. The top rocker, which is the white banner at the top, is our club name,” he said.
I felt along his back as he spoke, feeling what he was saying as he explained what each one was.
“The bottom rocker is our club’s location. We’re in Benton. We have other chapters all over the south,” he explained. “On the front is my name, club title, and the city again.”
I knew he was explaining this to me to get my mind off the fact that the roof was shaking around us, literally.
“I can’t believe Dallas hasn’t at least come to check on me,” I muttered darkly.
He tangled my hands in my hair, and I looked up at him…or where I thought he was.
“Your brother is a shit head. And I don’t think he even realizes that he is. Because if he did, he wouldn’t be telling your parents anything about how you were. My guess is that he really is worried, but he doesn’t know how to handle that worry. So, he closes himself off, telling himself that by telling your mother how he thinks you’re doing, he’s helping. Which, in reality, he’s not,” Silas said. “Maybe it’s time you had a talk with him, let him know you don’t appreciate being treated as a child.”
I agreed, and I’d already planned on doing that.
“I was going to do that today, but then he had that huge freakin’ party,” I told him darkly. “And I had to park in the street.”
He lowered his mouth down to mine.
“Well, then it’s a good thing he’s preoccupied, because right about now I could really fuck you on top of his car and he’d never even know,” he said tightly, lifting my body off the bench and laying me down on the car’s hood.
I laughed. “You know,” I said as he stripped my shorts from me. “This is my brother’s pride and joy.”
“Well your brother’s pride and joy is about to become our fuck stand,” he growled, then he was on me.
I’m a married mother of three. My kids are all under 5, so I can assure you that they are a handful. I’ve been with my paramedic husband now for ten years, and we’ve produced three offspring that are nothing like us. I live in the greatest state in the world, Texas.
HOSTED BY:
6 Attachments
Jan 06
Counter to my Intelligence by Lani Lynn Vale Review
5 Smooches!
Synopsis
Sometimes the heart wants what it can’t have.
That’s the motto Silas Mackenzie, the president of The Dixie Wardens MC, has lived by since he was a young man.
Now he’s well on the way to middle age, has three grown children, and he’s lusting after a woman he should definitely stay away from.
Especially one that his ex-girlfriend had given birth to, and happened to be only twenty seven years old.
Sawyer isn’t a young girl at heart, though.
She’s seen the inside of a jail cell for eight long years, and every one of them she spent paying for a crime she didn’t commit.
Silas Mackenzie knows as soon as he sees her that the girl has sacrificed enough.
And maybe…just maybe…so has Silas.
It’s time for Silas Mackenzie to get what he deserves, and put a little bit of happy back into Sawyer’s world, one rough, bearded kiss at a time.
Review
It’s no secret or surprise to Red Cheeks Reads followers that I’m the resident Lani Lynn Vale fan of the group. A Lani Lynn Vale book is a guaranteed, never-let-me-down, sure thing for me. I became a die-hard fan of Ms. Vale’s about half way through her first book, Boomtown, and I haven’t looked back. This author just ticks off all my boxes, and her books never, ever disappoint me. Within the pages of that first book, we met Silas McKenzie for the first time.
“My job wasn’t done… but my time as a good attentive father was.
And I’d pay for that decision every day for the rest of my life.”
To most, Silas Mackenzie is somewhat of an enigma. A semi-retired CIA asset and the president of the Dixie Wardens MC, Silas has this quiet aura of danger wrapped around his persona like a cloak. Always a loner, he doesn’t let anyone all the way in, and while he’s let his MC brothers get close, even they haven’t fully penetrated his walls. There are reasons for this, good reasons, scary reasons. Silas’ past never stops him from looking over his shoulder, it’s as if he’s just waiting for it to catch up to him. So instead of endangering anyone else he cares about, he just doesn’t let anyone get too close. You never know who is watching…
“…we find the defendant guilty of four counts of manslaughter.”
Twenty-year-old college student, Sawyer Berry, is perfectly happy reading her books on Friday night. She is not a party-girl, and this self-professed lightweight never lets herself have more than one drink. Yet, the night her life changed forever, she allowed herself to be bullied into attending a party she did not want to go to by her best friend, Bristol, and her boyfriend, Isaac. Having had enough of the party, she rounded them up and drove them all home in Isaac’s truck. A slick and foggy night and dealing with two very intoxicated friends who were grating on her last nerve coupled with her driving Isaac’s oversized Texas-good-ol-boy pick up truck, something she was never comfortable driving, all added up to disaster when the driver of a smaller truck pulled right out in front of them and Sawyer slammed into them, killing the four passengers inside and killing all of Sawyer’s hopes and dreams in the process.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
Silas and Sawyer meet up one night at a bar more than an hour from home. Both are there looking for the same thing. A hook up. They wind up leaving together. Crackling chemistry explodes when they make it back to Silas’ and what starts out as a one-night-stand morphs into a friends with benefits type of arrangement. Pillow talk naturally goes to what happened that night, and Silas does not like what he hears.
“Got nothing left to lose… Careful’s not in my repertoire.”
Silas is also dealing with the very unsettling news about a former target’s untimely release from prison. This target was Silas’ main focus during his early days as an undercover operative with the Dixie Wardens. Unfortunately, this man when exacting his revenge on Silas by targeting his family, is also the reason why Silas made that awful, difficult decision all those years ago to withdraw from his family. This man is dangerous, evil and hell bent on revenge.
“What the ^%*& happened here?”
Silas begins looking into Sawyer’s case, and he does not like what he finds and spurs him to dig deeper. Sawyer is starting to settle back into her life. During an unfortunate time, Silas’ past threatens his future. The dilemma is real. Silas is tired of being lonely and he loves Sawyer. He’s got a decision to make, turn his back on her, their love and a chance at happiness, like he did to his family 30 years ago, or take a chance and try to protect her from the evil that threatens. It’s a hell of a choice to have to make.
I’ve been waiting for Silas’ story for so long, as have the vast majority of Vale fans. And I must say, she did not disappoint. We’ve gotten scant few details on Silas over the years, Vale hoarded them like a fat kid with his Oreos, only doling out an occasional tidbit here and there. This book finally – finally – answers all of our questions. And there is so much more to the story than we could have even imagined. Heartbreaking at times, achingly lonely in parts, if you weren’t a Silas Mackenzie fan before, you will be now.
As usual, Vale’s writing is on point. She just has a way of building her stories and layering in all the details that make it so easy for the reader to visualize what’s happening. All of that trademark Vale humor that her fans have come to love and expect in one of her novels is here, despite the heavy subject matter. It’s sexy, it’s smart, and it’s Lani Lynn Vale’s best work to date. I loved Silas and Sawyer, I loved their story, and I loved this book. It’s back to a familiar place for me: waiting for her next release!
Counter To My Intelligence and the talented Lani Lynn Vale get 5 smooches from me!
~ Danielle Palumbo
BUY IT NOW
Jan 05
Never Tear Us Apart by Monica Murphy Release Blitz
We’re celebrating the release of NEVER TEAR US APART by Monica Murphy!
Title: Never Tear Us Apart
Author Name: Monica Murphy
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Bantam January 5, 2016
Purchase Links:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1KzdZSa
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1R3zkuq
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1PNyi5N
iBooks: http://apple.co/1MoW1EJ
B&N: http://bit.ly/1j80Pon
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1MHt8GE
Books-a-Million: http://bit.ly/1OPM7ym
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1iL7y7T
Penguin/Random House: http://bit.ly/1Jo0Ut7
Add to your Goodreads shelf: http://bit.ly/1V9L80V
Book description:
Crazy how eight years can disappear in an instant. One look at Katie Watts, and I’m a fifteen-year-old again–the one who risked everything to save a terrified girl from her twisted kidnapper. She’s grown-up now–beautiful, quiet, composed–and telling her story to the world. A story that involves me in more ways than you can imagine. She used to call me her guardian angel. Sure, I risked my life, but she was worth dying for.
I need to make contact with her. Just to ensure that she’s safe.
Somehow we reconnect. We become friends . . . but I want more. I want to make her mine. And she wants me too. Does she know who I am? Has she figured me out? Not yet. But she will. In the meantime, I need to make sure that whatever hold that animal had on her is gone.
So, yeah, I’m stealing these moments with her. Savoring them. Knowing, dreading, that she’ll soon find out who I really am. And everything will fall apart. All because of that twisted, perverted monster sitting on death row. Her kidnapper. A convicted serial killer.
My father.
Check out our 4.5 smooches review HERE.
Be sure to stop by Monica’s Facebook Page daily for giveaways!
About the Author:
New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite with her husband and three children. She’s a workaholic who loves her job. When she’s not busy writing, she also loves to read and travel with her family. She writes new adult and contemporary romance and is published with Bantam and Avon. She also writes romance as USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson.
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Jan 05
Never Tear Us Apart by Monica Murphy Review
4.5 Smooches
Synopsis
Crazy how eight years can disappear in an instant. One look at Katie Watts, and I’m a fifteen-year-old again–the one who risked everything to save a terrified girl from her twisted kidnapper. She’s grown-up now–beautiful, quiet, composed–and telling her story to the world. A story that involves me in more ways than you can imagine. She used to call me her guardian angel. Sure, I risked my life, but she was worth dying for.
I need to make contact with her. Just to ensure that she’s safe.
Somehow we reconnect. We become friends . . . but I want more. I want to make her mine. And she wants me too. Does she know who I am? Has she figured me out? Not yet. But she will. In the meantime, I need to make sure that whatever hold that animal had on her is gone.
So, yeah, I’m stealing these moments with her. Savoring them. Knowing, dreading, that she’ll soon find out who I really am. And everything will fall apart. All because of that twisted, perverted monster sitting on death row. Her kidnapper. A convicted serial killer.
My father.
Review
After finishing this dark contemporary romance I am at a loss of how to explain both this book and my feelings for it. I loved a lot of it, I was completely taken in with Ethan and Katherine’s story! Parts were emotionally crippling, parts were hopeful and all of left me incredibly intrigued for what is to come.
‘I wanted to believe him. I needed someone to believe in to get me out of here. So I was putting all my faith in him. I had to. There was no other choice.’
As much as I wasn’t to dissect every aspect of this unconventional story I am too worried about spoilers to do that. To give too much away would be a complete disservice to you the reader. Watching this tale unfold as it does just adds to the complexity of the story and is something each needs to do on their own. Just go into knowing what the synopsis tells us. At twelve Katie was abducted and raped till a boy saved her. That boy was the son of her abductor. Now eight years later they reconnect but so much of what they are now is surrounded by mystery, secrets and lies that they may be doomed from the start.
‘His anger over what happened to me is – exciting. There’s no other word for it.’
Told with alternating povs in both the past and the present we as the reader get the full story as it unfolds. I will be honest and for a lot of the story that takes place in the past my stomach was in knots and I was incredibly uncomfortable. The subject matter is difficult and not for everyone. I highly advise you read the authors note and take it under consideration before starting the book. While this is a romance and it is clear from the moment these two meet that they have a deep connection, Ethan’s deception makes it at this part in their story hard to decide what to root for. While a romance this section of the 2 part story is not overly sexy but it is filled with brimming desire and needs.
‘I’m fucking with her by doing this. Fucking with myself. I’m mental enough. Damaged enough. So is she. I don’t want to hurt her. But I can’t let her go. Not yet. I need more.’
While this book left me with mixed feelings (especially after that big ole cliffy) However I believe that this whole book is a giant stepping stone to where the final book will take us. The build has been so intense and emotional I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see if these two damaged souls can and will help heal each other.
~miranda
Buy It Now
Jan 05
Aced by K. Bromberg Excerpt Reveal
Synopsis:
Rylee and Colton’s ride continues…
One moment. Six years ago.
The night she made the world around me so much more than just a blur. Now it’s the catalyst that threatens to tear us apart.
Our happily was supposed to be ever after. So why do I feel like it’s slipping through my fingers?
How can one moment, when our world seemed so right, resurface and cause our perfect life to spiral out of control?
I can’t lose her.
She’s my checkered flag.
“Smoldering! Rylee and Colton’s romance continues burning up the pages in this steamy and exhilarating addition to the beloved Driven series!” – Katy Evans, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author
Colton Donavan is back in ACED, January 11, 2016!
Now available for Pre-order!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1mIdFvf
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1J7I4gi
iBooks: http://apple.co/1hML059
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1EkCboq
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1NX9mb5
Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/1OVtIjs
Excerpt:
Staring at the empty doorway, I’m not quite sure what to think so I lean back in the chair and blow out a slow and steady breath to calm myself. Colton’s never said anything like that to me before, and while everything he just said holds serious merit, I’m still astounded he said it. And while a small part of me warms, knowing he wants to take care of me, a larger part is irritated he’s laying down the law. The irony.
It doesn’t mean I have to abide by it though.
I look toward the ceiling and close my eyes momentarily. The many things I need to do run through my head, but I can’t do any of them because I can’t leave my house, can’t carry on my life like normal. I’m stuck here and that thought alone makes me feel claustrophobic.
I’m exposed to the world but trapped in my house.
Feeling defeated, my eyes flutter open to see the beach beyond the windows down below. And for the first time since we’ve met, I truly understand why Colton finds such refuge in his beloved beach—the crash of the waves, the feel of the sand beneath his feet, and the sense he’s this tiny blip on Mother Nature’s radar.
A soft chuckle falls from my lips as it hits me. On the beach, he feels inconsequential. How very fitting for a man who once told me I would never be that to him to have the need to feel that way at times.
My mind shifts back to that place and time. A ghost of a smile turns up my lips of the welcome memory of the Merit Rum party: dancing in the club followed by him chasing me into the hallway. Angry words. Contemptuous kisses. Hungry eyes. An elevator ride to the penthouse with a promised threat to decide. Yes. Or. No.
I find comfort in the memory. Without that night, there most likely wouldn’t be this. No Colton. No baby on the way. No chaos to want to hide from.
My eyes are drawn back to the beach. To the temptation of Colton’s place to escape. Sadly, right now, I couldn’t escape down there if I wanted to. At least he can get on his board and paddle out beyond the break to get some distance from the photographers. I’m not so lucky.
What I’d give to be inconsequential right now.
And yet deep down, no matter how hard I try, I know I will never be that to Colton. He’d never allow it. My handsome, complicated, and very stubborn husband takes too much pride in the two things he never thought he’d have—a wife and her love—to ever let me feel inconsequential again.
About the Author:
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author K. Bromberg writes contemporary novels that contain a mixture of sweet, emotional, a whole lot of sexy and a little bit of real. She likes to write strong heroines and damaged heroes who we love to hate and hate to love.
She’s a mixture of most of her female characters: sassy, intelligent, stubborn, reserved, outgoing, driven, emotional, strong, and wears her heart on her sleeve. All of which she displays daily with her husband and three children where they live in Southern California.
On a whim, K. Bromberg decided to try her hand at this writing thing. Since then she has written The Driven Series (Driven, Fueled, Crashed, Raced), the standalone Driven Novels (Slow Burn, Sweet Ache, Hard Beat, Aced (a new Rylee and Colton novel releasing 1/11/16), and a short story titled UnRaveled. She is currently working on new projects and a few surprises for her readers.
She loves to hear from her readers so make sure you check her out on social media.
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