Tuesday 16 July 2019

CRUEL LEGACY by K.A. Linde - Release Blast #bookreview #teasers






Watch Natalie get revenge in her new dark and glamorous life on the Upper East Side in the conclusion to USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde's billionaire romance Cruel Trilogy.

Darkness swept in.

Smothering everything in its inky black.

I have turned into their worst nightmares.

And I will not rest until they pay.

For everything.


AVAILABLE NOW

Amazon  Apple  B&N  Kobo  Google Play  Audio













Lose yourself to the dark and glamorous underbelly of the Upper East Side in USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde's new billionaire romance Cruel Trilogy.

She was supposed to be a one night stand.

A way to sate my sexual appetite.

I let her glimpse the man I am. The face that I hide behind my carefully cultivated life.

But she ripped open that divide--and there's no going back.

Now, she's here. In my city.

I don't care that I'm Manhattan royalty and she's the help.

Only that she's living in my summer home. With me.

And I want more.

✦ Amazon US ✦ iBooks ✦ B&N ✦ Kobo ✦ Google Play ✦ Paperback





Lose yourself to the dark and glamorous underbelly of the Upper East Side in the second book in USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde's new billionaire romance Cruel Trilogy.

I finally have everything I ever wanted--fame and fortune and literary success.

Only one problem: I lost my muse.

He was tall, dark, and handsome. Broody, enigmatic, alluring, and right for me in every way.

Until he wasn't. Until I lost everything.

And I can't lose it all again. I'll do anything to keep it.

Even seeing him again...


 AMAZON US  AMAZON UK  AMAZON AU ✦ AMAZON CA  B&N  APPLE BOOKS  KOBO











K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of more than fifteen novels including the Avoiding series and the Record series. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, geeking out over Star Wars, binge-watching Supernatural, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super adorable puppies.




https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42069146-cruel-legacy?from_search=true



Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Wildfire Marketing Solutions
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Part 3 of 3 (and needs to be read in order)


My Cruel Legacy Review . . .

Finally we get to find out what happens with Natalie and Penn, and what a journey it has been.  That upper east side group are cruel and Natalie has been hurt enough.  This time around Natalie is hell bent on revenge and oh boy does she have a plan. 

What she didn't completely factor into her plan was Penn.  Thankfully Penn has grown enough that he realizes what he wants and what sacrifices are needed to make it happen. 

"That's why I laughed. You're actually giving me the best-friend talk."
"How would you know?  Your best friends are all shitheads."

I've always like Penn and Nat together.  I have to admit I was never a fan of Lewis and Nat, everything about it felt wrong.   Which made me happy that was over, but still confused it happened in the first place.  While Nat is working on her revenge with Lewis she's also collecting and planning the biggest revenge on Katherine.   Katherine was also hard at times to wrap my head around because I didn't quite see the cruelness in the Wright Love Duet, where we meet her via her brother David.

The more Natalie plots the more she loses herself causing Penn to see another side of her and not the best side.    And once again Nat find herself on the losing end and she has to lick her wounds.  But here she to come to terms with the changes in herself and the new her.  With the reminder to honor her true self.  With this she can have everything she wants, even Penn.

This trilogy took us on the most epic cat fight with the stink that comes with the superficial world of the Upper East side.  But we also get the other side of the Upper East where friendship is everything no matter what even between the back stabbing.

Happy with the ending and now excited that we get a spin off with Lark's story.  Yeah!

3.5 Cat fight loving thumbs up!

thumbs upthumbs upthumbs up . 5

Lauren












Friday 12 July 2019

Just Love by Prescott Lane Blog Tour #bookreview #teasers #excerpt

Just Love - BT banner.jpg

Just Love by Prescott Lane
Release Date: July 9, 2019

Just Love Cover.jpeg


Just Love, an all-new standalone contemporary romance by Prescott Lane.

There’s two sides to every love story. The how you fell in love, and the how you fell apart.

This is ours.

The cardinal rule of friendship is you don’t mess with your friend’s sister.
That goes double when she’s his little sister.

It was just supposed to be fun.

She wasn’t supposed to end up being the love of my life.
And I definitely wasn’t supposed to break her heart.

Ainsley is a wedding dress designer. That should’ve been a warning that she’s a hopeless romantic. That should’ve clued me in that she believes love conquers all.

But there are some things that love can’t fix. I’m one of them.

She thinks love is the answer.

But love is the reason I let her go.

A stand-alone, contemporary romance.


Just Love - AN.jpg

Download your copy today!
Amazon Worldwide: mybook.to/JustLovePL

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/32aobkG



Blog Tour Teaser.jpg


Excerpt:

I knew the kind of guy Rhett was. I knew serious wasn’t his thing. I knew using the word love usually sent him running for the hills. I knew it, and I did it anyway.  

But he wasn’t that guy with me. He and I were different. I know he loved me.  

I’ve loved that man since I was fifteen years old. How could I not? Forget the abs, the tan skin, those pale, sexy blue eyes. Forget the fact that his voice sends shivers down my spine. The first time we kissed, I felt my whole world shatter and fall into place at the same time. 

  I tried to pretend to be “that” girl. The kind that can kiss a guy just for fun, screw a man and not imagine a life with him. I tried. I failed. The hopeless romantic in me wasn’t having it.  

My heart should’ve known better — but my heart was no match for Rhett Bennett.  

When Rhett and I fell apart, I broke up with social media. I have to say, that breakup was a lot easier. No hashtags, no emojis, no memes to post. Some people use social media as their therapist. I’ve seen people post play-by-plays of their divorce, or explain every detail of their latest illness or drama. I probably could’ve attracted a lot more followers if I chronicled the demise of our relationship. It’s the stuff of soap operas.  

But instead, I broke it off with Facebook, banned Instagram, and boycotted Twitter.  

Today, Facebook and I are having one last romp. Relationship status update: Single. That’s it. That one little change. I have to start somewhere. Skye’s right about that.  

The one part of being single I have embraced is the diet. The single woman diet consists of basically any breakfast food for dinner, coffee, and alcohol. I’ve gotten so good at it, I no longer need a grocery cart when I shop. Quick tip, don’t get a cart at the grocery store, only buy what you can hold. It’s good for the budget and the waistline. Unfortunately, that rule doesn’t work so well at clothing stores.

 
About Prescott:  

Prescott Lane is the Amazon best-selling author of Stripped Raw. She's got seven other books under her belt including: First Position, Perfectly Broken, Quiet Angel, Wrapped in Lace, Layers of Her, The Reason for Me, and The Sex Bucket List. She is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, and holds a degree in sociology and a MSW from Tulane University. She married her college sweetheart, and they currently live in New Orleans with their two children and two crazy dogs. Prescott started writing at the age of five, and sold her first story about a talking turtle to her father for a quarter. She later turned to writing romance novels because there aren't enough happily ever afters in real life.
 
Connect with Prescott:
 





Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Social Butterfly PR
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Standalone


My Just Love Review . . .

I've always been a fan of Prescott Lane, so when I get the chance to review, I jump at that opportunity.   Often when I read the synopsis that its the brother's little sister I catch myself from rolling my eyes thinking its going to be another predictable little sister romance, but with Just Love it was so much more.

"I'm sure I love her."
"You have to be sure you can let her love you,"
Rhett and Brody are best friends and the last person he should be interested in his Brody's little sister, Ainsley.  But he can't help himself for falling for her.   The book is step up going back and forth from present and the past, more like a before and after a big event.  However, we don't know what the event is and its a nice build for us to find out what the catalyst was that set everything off to heartbreak.

"You need to learn the difference between won't and can't,"
The more the book unfolds the more you see the pain of each character and how they are all dealing with the aftermath.  Everyone processes in a different way and this was portrayed very well.

"Love shouldn't lie,"  I say.  "If love should be anything, it should be honest."

I know that better than anyone.  If you truly love someone, you should never lie in the name of love.  Never lie to spare them pain.  Love them enough to tell the truth.  Then love them enough to sit in the pain with them.  That's what love truly is. 

When we finally get the truth behind the event a new story unfolds in the present.  Where love is the only answer, once everyone can get on the same page.  Which isn't easy when so much pain and hurt happens.

Love is a belief, a faith.  I've never thought about love as faith before, but that's exactly what it is.  To have faith is to trust someone else totally.  That's what love is at its core.
They say you can't have love if you don't have trust.  That's what love is.
Love is faith.
I absolutely adored this story.  Ainsley was a super strong heroine which is my favorite type of heroine.  Together her and Rhett showed what true love is all about, no matter what.  Also a big thank you to Prescott Lane, for making the male hero, real and honest.    And for letting him stay a version of broken instead of making an unrealistic twist of healing to wrap everything up in a perfect little bow.  Instead you gave us truth and reality, which is much more believable as well as gives hope to many people in similar situations.   Thank you.  



4 Just Love Thumbs up!

thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up

Lauren












Tuesday 9 July 2019

The Other Side by Kim Holden Review Tour #bookreview 5/5

We're celebrating the release of The Other Side by Kim Holden! One-Click your copy today!


Title: The Other Side
Author: Kim Holden
Release Date: June 5, 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Coming of Age

Synopsis:
Denver, Colorado
1987

There are two sides to every story.
The surface reality that’s presented to the world.
And then there’s the other side.
The real one.
The one that matters.

Seventeen-year-old, self-proclaimed asshole, Toby Page, is alone.
No friends.
No family.
He trades maintenance work in exchange for room and board.
Every day he fights demons no one else can see.
Every day he wants to give up.
But he can’t.
Not yet.

When Alice Eliot moves in downstairs, she offers Toby some light in his dark world.
At a crossroads and barely hanging on, it’s hard to have perspective.
It’s difficult to see your own worth when you’re the villain in your story.
Luckily for Toby, Alice brings things out in him that no one else ever has.

As the two sides of Toby’s story are revealed, and the full reality comes into view, truth is gained.
Improbable alliances prove that kindness is fundamentally human.
Unlikely heroes emerge.

The question is, Will it all be enough to save him?




About the Author:

Some of my favorite things: reading, writing, the two coolest guys on the planet (my husband and son), my bicycle (my husband built it for me), Facebook (I'm fairly certain it's an addiction at this point), iced coffee (hazelnut), and music (LOVE Sunset Sons, the 1975, Dredg, the xx, Balance and Composure, Teenage Bottlerocket, and 30 Seconds to Mars). I also love dreaming, which brings me to my next point. I have one bit of advice for anyone reading this ... follow your dreams. It's never too late. Get started today ... heck get started RIGHT NOW! I wanted to write a book 20 years ago. Instead I waited. And waited. I should've been writing. But I didn't. I don't do regrets, because the past is just that, the past. But let me tell you there's nothing in the world like achieving something you've dreamt about for years and years. So, get started. Make your dreams reality. 

I love to hear from other readers. Send me a message or find me on Facebook (https://facebook.com/kimholdenauthor) and tell me what's up in your reading world.



https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45310112-the-other-side?from_search=true



Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Wordsmith Publicity
Genre: Young Adult, Coming of Age
 Standalone


My The Other Side Review . . .


 This book was so sad, yet beautiful at the same time.  Kim Holden has such a gift in her writing and the ability to make everyone viscerally feel while going along side these characters.

This book is literally sadness and depression but written with so much beauty.  It's also about the other side with hope and purpose.

The way this book was set up was brilliant.  In part 1 we get inside Toby's head. In part 2 we see the imprint that we leave behind and don't even realize it.  And with Toby he left quite the imprint.  In part 3 we now get to mash those together.  We also get to know more on how Toby ended up at the place he lives and all the truths that were left untold.

I wasn't sure how this book was going to unfold being set in the 1980's but it made the story much more grittier to me.  I also loved revisiting the 80's and the simple of beauty of a record store.

Here are some of my favorite quote in this amazing book


"The most important time to listen is when words are missing, that's when hearts cry out the loudest."


"Every kiss eventually ends.  The memory of them doesn't.  I'll still feel that one when I'm ninety,"

Sadness is melancholy.  Depression is a black hole of despair.

" . . . All that being said, Toby, you're a terrible liar.  Your sadness is deep.  It's old and aged and I can't begin to hear where it began.  But it isn't permanent."  She squeezes my hand tight again and whispers,  "I'll help you slay it."

When people learn from their mistakes it matures them; when they don't they stagnate. 

"Some people aren't worth fighting for, Toby.  You're not one of them.  There are people we meet in this life who anchor us.  They reassure us with their presence.  They bring us comfort simply by being.  They love by osmosis, radiating it out and diffusing it in effortlessly.  Quietly, they walk among us, treading lightly but providing stability and influence because it's second nature.  The thing that's so special about these people is that they don't even know they're doing it."

"That's you, Toby.  That is you. You're worth fighting for."  Her voice cracks before she adds,  "You have no fucking idea how much I wish you realized it and started fighting for yourself."

When The Other Side is introduced to reality, lives change.

"And depression isn't about weakness, it's about battling and wanting to deaden the pain, not the person."

"You're not a mess, Toby, you're human.  One of my favorite things about you is that you feel completely and you care endlessly. . . ."

" . . . You don't scare me, Toby Page.  People aren't perfect.  It's not about loving them when it's easy and convenient; it's about loving them even more when it's hard."

" . . . I think sometimes we take people for granted . . . or we just assume that they know how we feel about them because if it's so obvious to us, shouldn't it be obvious to them too? . . . "

"What makes you happy, Toby?"
"The girl who sees the stars despite the clouds taught me to do the same.  And it changed everything."

I loved the beauty of Alice & Toby.  Each character was amazing on their own but together pure beauty and hope.

This book may gut you but its worth it to get to the other side.  Kim Holden is definitely one of favorite authors and this was another beautiful story that will stay in my heart forever.  Thank you Kim!

5 Amazingly sad and beautiful Thumbs up!

thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up

Lauren