Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Safe & Sound by T.S. Krupa

Holy emotional roller coaster! I was crying within the first 15% of Safe and Sound, and not just sniffles either...full on ugly crying.  This book hit every emotion you can think of.  The whole premise of such a young woman losing her husband so suddenly is very sad, but T.S. Krupa did an excellent job of showing true raw emotion.

Safe and Sound followed Jill through the entire first year after her husband Jay passed away, and I really felt completely connected with her.  There was no sugar coating the complete despair that you feel when losing a loved one.  It also had some of the most touching moments shared with some amazing friends.  I was so invested in this book right at the start and couldn't put it down.  I needed to know if Jill came out the other end of this story OK, or if the pain of having her future completely altered in a matter of minutes was just too much for her to overcome.

Jill had the help of some of her oldest friends, Stella and Lanie, along with her husbands best friend Harry to get her through the toughest time of her life.  She had lost her husband, and also found out that he had been keeping several very large secrets from her.  She trusted these people as if they were family, because to her they were the only family she had left.  But did they all deserve this trust??? How did Jay keep all of these secrets? Did she really even know him at all?

Review by Jillian

Monday, April 14, 2014

RELEASE DAY: Nearly Broken by Devon Ashely



New Adult Romantic Suspense / Dark Realistic Fiction


God help me…Zander isn’t the worst thing out there.

Megan Whitaker desperately wants to forget what the Malone brothers have done to her over the past two years – the haunting images and sensations still plaguing her thoughts and dreams – but she can’t. Charles may be dead, but Zander isn’t. I’ll find you and bring you back to me. She wants to believe she’s safe with Nick in their secluded new home, but it doesn’t keep her from looking over her shoulder, jumping over unexpected sounds, carrying a concealed weapon or even preparing for the worst.

Nick Ellis has seen a change in his long, lost love. Battered emotionally and physically, Megan spends her days at self-defense classes and researching things that’ll never allow her to let go of the past. And he feels guilty even asking her to, because he knows that heathen will return, it’s only a matter of time. And when he does, Nick will do anything to save her, even the unthinkable, risking everything he’s fought so hard to get back.

But there is no escaping the world of sex trafficking, nor the band of men who continually aid one another to keep it thriving. And as her nightmares begin to converge with reality, Megan realizes there are far worse people to fear than the one who haunts her dreams.

New Adult Romantic Suspense / Dark Realistic Fiction

Recommended for 17+ for mature and disturbing situations, language and sexual content.



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About the Author


Devon Ashley is a mom, a wife, a lover and a fighter, a coffee addict, a wicked knitster, a Microbiologist, a baker of fine yummy treats, and someone who will fight you to the death for that last Twinkie bag of M&Ms during the zombie-apocalypse. Seriously, her addiction is that important to her. Oh, and she says seriously way too much. Seriously…




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Thursday, April 10, 2014

The Wanderers by Jessica Miller

Oh. My. God.  I am speechless.  Literally speechless.  I was completely shocked at how much I LOVED this book.  The Wanderers was NOTHING what I expected it to be, in an awesome way.  I can't say why without ruining the best part of the book, but there were a number of twists that I NEVER saw coming.  I was invested in the story within a few pages and it just kept getting better and better as I kept reading.

Ella was a typical teenage girl, eager to get out from under her overprotective parents and start the next phase in her life.  She was headed off to college and her best friend Josie (Who I LOVE) was coming with her...how perfect! She immediately began making new friends, and even joined a sorority (after incessant begging from Josie).  And of course she met a few boys!

Tristan was the typical player frat boy who is unimaginably gorgeous.  He is also cocky and knows EXACTLY just how beautiful he is.  Ella wants to hate him in the worst way possible, but she just can’t deny the chemistry between them.  She can instantly sense when he is around before she even sees him, because every time he shows up her stomach flips upside down and her whole body tingles.  She has never felt this way and it gets the best of her.  I don't blame her though, even my feelings towards Tristan kept flopping around.  I loved him one second and despised him the next, but by the end of the book I was completely sure of my feelings for him.

Then there is Jack.  The cute nerdy boy who lives in her hall.  He is super sweet and a great friend.  He has made it known he has feelings for Ella.  She knows he is the smarter, safer choice, and he would treat her like gold.  Ella is very conflicted, her head and her heart just can’t agree.  She tries to follow her head and starts dating Jack...but the devil on her shoulder just won’t let her forget about Tristan...

When things start to go wrong and her past catches up to her, who will be the one to save Ella in the end? Will it be party boy Tristan, or dependable sweet Jack??

Review by Jillian

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Passion and Ponies (Chocoholics #2) by Tara Sivec

I would pay good money to spend some time inside Tara Sivec's head! For the life of me, I have no idea how she comes up with the stuff that is in her books.  But I am so glad she does because it provides me with endless amounts of entertainment!  Passion and Ponies made me laugh out loud continuously throughout the entire time it took me to read it (which wasn't long, because I just couldn't tear myself away)!

I found Tyler hysterical, and he fit right in with the entire Seduction and Snacks crew.  I really wonder if people like them actually exist in the world.  I swear, if I spoke like they do to my mother she would not be able to face me for MONTHS out of sheer mortification.  I also really enjoyed getting to know more about Charlotte and Ava.  They are polar opposites, but I completely see how Ava is all Liz and Charlotte takes after Jim.

I don't always love spin offs, but Tara Sivec has done a great job making this work.  I like how it incorporates all of our favorite characters from the Chocolate Lovers series while giving the Chocaholics their own stories and highlighting them as the stars of this series.
Review by Jillian    



Monday, April 7, 2014

BLITZ AND GIVEAWAY: Let Love Be (Love #2) by Melissa Collins

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What would bring you happiness in a world that was suddenly empty?

For Lucy Crane, the answer is simple: her daughter. When her husband is killed in a tragic accident, Lucy loses her desire to live, but only one thing keeps her going – her unborn daughter. Focusing on being a mother helps Lucy cope with her loss, but kids grow up and they leave home, eventually. Eighteen years after losing her first and only love, Lucy is faced with the opportunity to find the happiness for which she’s always longed. Her own fears become her worst enemies as she learns how to embrace love once again.

Evan Donovan is also facing his own struggles. Forced to retire from the FDNY because of lung damage caused by 9/11, Evan moves to upstate New York where he hopes to find a little peace and quiet. Old habits die hard, and Evan’s hero complex and survivor’s guilt constantly remind him of how difficult it is to be vulnerable. But for the first time in his life, he’s tired of being alone.

Drawing strength from one another, Lucy and Evan discover how beautiful it is to let love be a part of their lives.

Where to buy


Review

I thought I would Maddy and Reid would forever be my #1 Love series couple, but hen Lucy and Evan met.  WOW!  I don't know if its because they are an adult couple (Lucy is 43, Evan 52) and therefore closer to my own age, but their love story was absolutely beautiful and really touched me.  There is something to be said for falling in love after you've gained enough life experience to be over yourself and unafraid to be who you really are.  

I have always loved Lucy and her character has always intrigued me.  I went into Let Love Be with a lot of preconceived ideas about who I thought Lucy was and why she made the choices in her life that she did.  Some of those ideas turned out true, but more often than not what I thought I knew about Lucy wasn't so and my whole view of her shifted (in a good way!).  She has lead a happy but hard life and its finally her time.  Even's life has been very different from Lucy's but no less of a struggle.  He is the type of man other men admire and women want to fall all over.

The dynamic between Evan and Lucy was a welcomed diversion from my typical read (mostly YA/NA).  Their maturity shone through not only in their day to day lives but in how they interacted with each other and how they approached their blooming relationship.  Lucy and Evan were two of the most real characters I've ever come across and I know that if I ever meet them one day we would be great friends!

Make sure you check out the rest of this AMAZING series:
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Our reviews:

About the author

Author Pic.JPGMelissa Collins has always been a book worm.  Studying Literature in college ensured that her nose was always stuck in a book.  She followed her passion for reading to the most logical career choice: English teacher.  Her hope was to share her passion for reading and the escapism of books to her students.  Having spent more than a decade in front of a classroom, she can easily say that it’s been a dream.
Her passion for writing didn’t start until more recently.  When she was home on maternity leave in early 2012, she read her first romance novel and her head filled with the passion, angst and laughter of the characters who she read about it.  It wasn’t long before characters of her own took shape in her mind. Their lives took over Melissa’s brain and The Love Series was born.
Web - www.melissacollinsauthor.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/melissacollins.author
Twitter - @mcollinsauthor

GIVEAWAY!!!

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Sunday, April 6, 2014

Let Love Be (Love #4) by Melissa Collins

I thought I would Maddy and Reid would forever be my #1 Love series couple, but hen Lucy and Evan met.  WOW!  I don't know if its because they are an adult couple (Lucy is 43, Evan 52) and therefore closer to my own age, but their love story was absolutely beautiful and really touched me.  There is something to be said for falling in love after you've gained enough life experience to be over yourself and unafraid to be who you really are.

I have always loved Lucy and her character has always intrigued me.  I went into Let Love Be with a lot of preconceived ideas about who I thought Lucy was and why she made the choices in her life that she did.  Some of those ideas turned out true, but more often than not what I thought I knew about Lucy wasn't so and my whole view of her shifted (in a good way!).  She has lead a happy but hard life and its finally her time.  Even's life has been very different from Lucy's but no less of a struggle.  He is the type of man other men admire and women want to fall all over.

The dynamic between Evan and Lucy was a welcomed diversion from my typical read (mostly YA/NA).  Their maturity shone through not only in their day to day lives but in how they interacted with each other and how they approached their blooming relationship.  Lucy and Evan were two of the most real characters I've ever come across and I know that if I ever meet them one day we would be great friends!
Review by Danielle

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

SNEAK PEAK: Lost in Me (Hear and Now #1) by Lexi Ryan

SNEAK PEEK


Lost in Me is the first book in the Here and Now series, a spin-off of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Hope series. This sexy amnesia love triangle is intended for mature readers.



Releasing April 7, 2014

If you pre-order on iBooks or purchase the first week of release, you receive a fan appreciation price of only .99 cents!

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The last thing I remember is having drinks at Brady’s and trying to avoid eye-contact with my life-long crush—the gorgeous, unattainable Maximilian Hallowell. They tell me that was a year ago, but I have no memories of anything since then. What I do have is this ring on my finger that Max says he gave me, and this much-thinner body I’ve dreamed of most of my life. Aside from a case of retrograde amnesia, everything seems almost...perfect.

But the deeper I immerse myself into this new world of mine—planning a wedding to a man I don't remember dating, attempting to run a business I don't remember starting—the clearer it becomes that nothing is as it seems. Do I have the life I’ve always wanted or is it a facade propped up by secrets I don't even know I have?

I need answers before I marry Max, and the only person who seems to have them is the angry, tatted, sexy-as-sin rocker Nate Crane. And Nate wants me for himself.

Lost in Me is not a standalone novel, as the story continues in Here and Now book two, FALL TO YOU, releasing in June.


Excerpt from LOST IN ME


“You don’t understand what this is like. Not remembering? I’m planning a wedding to this man I’ve wanted most of my life. Don’t I owe it to him—don’t I owe it to myself—to have the truth out there before we promise until death do us part?”

Even in the moonlight, I can see the pain in his eyes.

“I just need answers.” I lift my chin and move toward the back wall of the house, toward him. Immediately, I regret the decision because his lips curve into a wicked smile and he closes what distance is left between us. “I need the truth,” I whisper weakly.

“The truth? Is that what you really want, angel?” His deep voice dances over my skin like a caress. A little tender. A lot wicked.

I can’t reply. I’m too busy holding my breath. Too deep of an inhale might brush my breasts against his chest, and I’m afraid to touch him. Afraid of what it might make me feel.

As if he can read my mind, he takes another step closer, and when I step to the side to turn away, I’m against the wall and his body is against mine, his hot breath at my ear.

“Do you want to know what it was like between us?” he whispers.

“Yes.”

I realize my mistake when a groan rumbles from his chest. “Should I start with how wet you were every time I touched you? Or maybe how you begged me that first night?”

“I didn’t.”

“Have you been telling yourself some wicked rocker seduced you? That I tricked you into my bed? Sorry. You asked for the truth. You begged. Right there outside the club, you begged me until I ripped your panties off and you were too busy biting my neck to talk anymore. Is that what you’re hoping to remember? How you wanted me so badly you let me finger you out in the open, against that building where anyone could have seen?”

My breathing is uneven, my cheeks hot. When I press into his chest to put some distance between us, my traitorous hands curl into his shirt instead.

He makes a low growling sound at the back of his throat. His teeth nip at my earlobe. Lightning cracks in the sky behind him. “You might have forgotten me, but you still like dirty talk, don’t you? And maybe if I made you come now, you’d still scream my name. Because you always screamed my name, Hanna. Never his.”

I gasp. “You are horrible.”

“What are you really upset about? That you wanted me? Or that even as you stand here wearing his ring, you’re secretly hoping I’ll tell you about it. Secretly wishing you could remember all the details.”

LOST IN ME © Lexi Ryan, 2014

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About the Author



Once a college English professor, I now write full time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I'm not writing, I get to hang out with my husband and two kids--a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I enjoyed before I had children. When I'm feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I'm really, really slow) or do yoga. Don't worry, I'm always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.


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