Monday, 15 September 2014

Second Chance Ranch (Hope Springs #1) by Cindi Madsen -#bookreview

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N04PCKG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00N04PCKG&linkCode=as2&tag=lirebr-20&linkId=N44OVGAFBLYMCIER
Second Chance Ranch (Hope Springs)

 
by
 
Sometimes love is right where you left it.

Sadie Hart has a plan: return to her small town of Hope Springs so she can regain her confidence—and bank account—before giving one more shot to her country music dream. The dream that means more to her than anything. The dream she chose over her high school sweetheart, the brooding and sinfully handsome Royce Dixon.

Royce has moved on from his memories of the beautiful Sadie. Now he’s focused solely on running Second Chance Ranch, where he rehabilitates troubled teens through ranch work. But when he needs a new employee and Sadie’s the only one to volunteer, he has no choice but to offer his old flame a job.

Whether riding a horse with the wind in her hair or mucking out the stalls, Sadie can still get Royce’s heart beating like no one else. But Nashville is her dream, and Royce can’t settle for second best.





Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Entangled Bliss via NetGalley
Genre: Adult Contemporary 
Part 1 in a series

My Second Chance Ranch Review ...

I was flipping through my TBR list and thought ' what they hay' for this one and gave it a go.  So glad I did because it was exactly what I needed at that moment, which was a super sweet romance with a gorgeous cowboy. 

Young love is a tricky thing and often it is something that goes into our 'what if ' folder in life when we let things go because we are too young to appreciate or understand the importance of it.  For Royce and Sadie they had it all but Sadie wanted more so she walked away at 18 years old aiming for the stars.  



Six years later with her tail between her legs she comes and is forced to face her past and her biggest regret.  For Royce once burnt, he is reluctant to open up to the idea of Sadie especially since she plans on leaving again soon anyways, but the pull between them is too much to deny. 

After giving in both are scared and don't communicate but they both work at second chance ranch so why not live what they preach.  As always this was a great book from Cindi Madsen.  It was easy and sweet and left me happy after reading it.

4 Super Sweet Cowboy Loving Thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren



 
 


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Saturday, 13 September 2014

The Rules Regarding Gray by Elizabeth Finn - #bookreview

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N7ORBXA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00N7ORBXA&linkCode=as2&tag=lirebr-20&linkId=MVBQPDN4LAQK26YI
The Rules Regarding Gray


by

Gracelynn is drowning in an existence that fails to fulfill her. A ballerina by trade, she’s devoted her life to the stage, sacrificing adventure for discipline. When her boyfriend gives her permission to want what she’s not supposed to want, can she walk away? Or will she leap?

Jasper isn’t a man with many boundaries, and “sharing” a woman with his best friend is hardly a new endeavor. But the moment he meets Gracelynn he realizes she’s different. She leaves him feeling alive in a way he’s not used to, and for the first time in his life, he understands what it means to be wanted… Cherished… And he needs more…

But there are rules—rules that forbid Jasper from truly having her. As forbidden desire spirals out of control, Jasper has to decide if he’s willing to fight for something that doesn’t truly belong to him. His best friend doesn’t deserve her, but is Jasper strong enough to believe he does?




Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy from Author Elizabeth Finn
Genre: Adult Contemporary (M/F/M)

My The Rules Regarding Gray Review ...

What a sexy beautiful story!

 
Elizabeth Finn has a magic to her writing.  She is one of the only authors for me that when I read her stories I feel like I'm watching a movie causing a three dimensional world instead of just reading and escaping.  I feel like I'm watching everything that is happening while I'm reading.


For me love triangles are hit and miss for me but here it was a definite hit.  Jasper and Ian are best friends and have shared lovers in the past but with Gray it's different because its not Ian's lover but his girlfriend.  Even though Gray is everything that Jasper doesn't go for he is drawn to her from the start. Once he gets to know her, he just plain falls.  

 
Gray is such a strong character emotionally, which I loved.  She may have given up a lot of life experience for her career but she is making up for it now.  At first she is taken back with Ian's offer and she is adamantly going to refuse but the more she gets to know Jasper the more she starts to waiver.  



Jasper is a complex yet broken man from his past but with Gray for once he wants more.  There is such a strong emotional bound from the start for these two. 
"I guess real closeness comes when you find that person that can ..." He shook his head, trying to figure out a way to explain it.  "... break the hold your darkness sometimes has on you.  They liberate you. I don't know if that makes sense."

"I guess I imagine real closeness is what happens when you meet someone who can ... fill in the missing pieces and make you feel whole and satiated.  They make you a solid thing, rather that a fading ghost of a person. They make you feel at peace as opposed to always feeling like you're searching for something to fill the void."

Jasper so badly wants this but to what cost?

Once Gray is in,  Ian has a moment on his moral compass causing him to give rules in regards to experiencing Gray choke holding Jasper and Gray in the process.  The more the rules impede them the more their feelings grow.  With this growth and closeness of these two causes Ian's douchemeter to go off the charts.  Even though it is originally Ian and Gray the minute Jasper and Gray meet you immediately start to route for them.  


The moment Jasper and Gray touch it creates such a sensual feel to this book which just morphs and grows into something that can't be contained nor ignored.  I absolutely loved this book.  The emotional growth and bond between the two filled my heart with such joy and beauty.  It is not your typical love story but for them it was perfect and beautiful.  I enjoyed the whole journey of Jasper and Gray from beginning to end.  Individually they may have been a bit broken in their own ways but together they make each other whole.  This was another winner from Elizabeth Finn who is fast approaching becoming one of my favorite authors

5 Sexy and Beautiful Thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren






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Friday, 12 September 2014

Re-Release Cover Reveal - Pulled by A.L. Jackson -#giveaway






Melanie Winters and Daniel Montgomery shared a love most only dream of, a love they believed bonded them together for life. 

When their world is shattered by the tragic loss of their daughter, overwhelming grief and misguided guilt distorts the truth, and their relationship ends in uncertainty and unanswered questions. 

For nine years, they drift through life, each unable to forget the one who holds the strings to their heart. In an attempt to escape the pain of her past, Melanie finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage, while Daniel loses himself in a career that means nothing without Melanie by his side. 

Now, when their lives again intersect, neither can deny the connection they felt so long ago. But will the power that drew them together be enough to heal the wounds from their past, and will they have the courage to overcome the insecurities and fears that threaten to keep them apart? 

Pulled is a story of attraction and separation, of destiny and duty, of a love so strong it refuses to give up even when all others have. 

"Okay, this one did it for me in a big way. I'm an angst-lover. And by that I mean, I'm a Thoughtless, Beautiful Disaster, Love Unscripted, Slammed, Fifty Shades of Everything, kind of reader. But there's gotta be an HEA. And not a half-done HEA but a real yeah-this-story-has-been-agonizing-but-look-it-was-all-worth-it HEA. So, that said, I earnestly recommend this book. If you're like me, you'll like this. Enjoy!" LitJunkie


BUY LINKS

AMAZON

B&N

iTunes









A.L. Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of Take This Regret and Lost to You, as well as other contemporary romance titles, including If Forever Comes, Pulled and When We Collide, as well as the New Adult Romance Come To Me Quietly due out January 7, 2014. 

She first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college student. She filled the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life.

Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three children. Her favorite pastime is spending time with the ones she loves. 


 FACEBOOK
 TWITTER
 GOODREADS
 AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE
WEBSITE





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Cover Reveal - Ricochet by Keri Lake - #giveaway & #teaser

 

RICOCHET

By Keri Lake

Adult Contemporary Romance – Standalone
Expected Release Date:  Spring 2015
Image credit: Specular

BLURB:

The only sure way to destroy a man is to take what he cannot live without.
Three years ago, I had everything.
A beautiful wife.
A son.
A reason for living.
Until a ruthless task force, assembled under Mayor Michael Culling, with a brutal strategy to make the streets of Detroit ‘safe’, ripped away everything I loved in a deadly hunt called The Culling.
They tried to kill me, too.  I wish they had.  Now I’m cursed by the memories of that night, and the words I whispered to my dying wife.
A promise—to avenge the wrong and set it right.
I’m no longer Nick Ryder.  I’m a masked vigilante.  Faceless.  Loveless.  Fearless.  A man with nothing left to lose—one who’s seen the dark and violent truth behind the city’s flawless veneer.
Michael Culling doesn’t know who I am.  Or what I want.  All he knows is that I’ve kidnapped his beautiful wife.
An eye for an eye—isn’t that how the saying goes? And Aubree Culling is the perfect pawn to destroy him.
If she doesn’t destroy me first.
************

Add it to your GOODREADS SHELF!

To be notified when the book goes live, join Keri Lake’s VIP EMAIL LIST!!

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Link:  Ricochet
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Thursday, 11 September 2014

November Rain (Fire and Rain #4) by Daisy Harries - #bookreview, #mm

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K1WUBHE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00K1WUBHE&linkCode=as2&tag=lirebr-20&linkId=NYL7N6HNDA4XM46X
November Rain (Fire and Rain #4)


by
 
A single bullet could take them both down.
 
Fire and Rain, Book 4

Detective Joe Klamath is used to guys falling on their backs at the arch of his commanding eyebrow. Yet he can’t seem to get a read on a cute, department-store sales guy. The vagrant who just walked in, though? He’s easy to read. He’s dangerous.
Joe’s training kicks in, but as he wrestles the gun-wielding man, he gets shot.
Raised in a conservative Ethiopian community, Elias Abraham keeps his natural attraction to men under wraps. But Joe’s heroism moves him to care for the man who saved his life. After all, Joe is hurt. Chances are slim he’ll demand the types of things boys in college always wanted. Sex acts Elias wasn’t—and possibly never will be—ready for.
Gradually, Joe’s easy confidence softens Elias’s resistance. But as Joe’s healing progresses too slowly for a man of action, and trouble brews in Elias’s family, Elias begins to wonder if he can handle the pressure. Because though he hasn’t given all of his body, he’s already given all of his heart.
Warning: Contains a sexy-as-hell cop, a shy virgin fifteen years younger, and an extremely intimate sponge bath. Underpants optional.



BUY : AMAZON (Kindle)



Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Samhain Publishing via NetGalley
Genre: MM Contemporary Romance
Part 4 in a series but can be read as a standalone

My November Rain Review ...

I first found Daisy Harris with her Men of Holsum College Series then when From the Ashes came out I jumped at the chance to read it.  As I continued with this series I find that it started to lose its wow factor quite quickly but I am a dedicated fan so I ploughed through.  With this book it was sweet but it didn't really leave me with too much of an impression afterward.  It had good elements and touched on culture issues in the LGBT world that are normally overlooked but in the end it was just ok which caused me to like it just not love it. 


Joe is instantly smitten with Ethiopian twink Elias but after a random shooting it throws the two together.  Elias knows he is gay but is very innocent in every aspect of this lifestyle due to family and culture bias.  The more Elias gets to know Joe the more Elias takes a leap for himself.  

As Elias is opening up, Joe is having struggles relying on someone, so the more he needs help the more he pushes Elias away.  As they both deal with their personal issues realizing that their love for each other is more important than their personal battles.  A very quick escalation of feelings causing me not to fully envelope the connection between the two but still enjoyed the sweetness of this quick story.

3 Sweet but Not impressionable thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs up 
Lauren
 

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Wednesday, 10 September 2014

Cover Reveal - Free me by Laurelin Paige - #giveaway & #coverreveal


Title: Free Me
Series: The Found Duet Book One
Author: Laurelin Paige
Publication Date: December 9, 2014
Summary: Her story began long before she started working at The Sky Launch...

Screw fairytales. The only reward Gwen Anders got from her rough childhood was a thick skin and hard heart. She’s content with her daily grind managing a top NYC nightclub—Eighty-Eighth Floor. So hers isn’t a happily ever after. She doesn’t believe in those anyway. 

Then she meets J.C.

The rich, smooth talking playboy is the sexiest thing that Gwen has ever encountered, but she’s not interested in a night-in-shining latex. But when a family tragedy pushes her to the brink, it’s J.C. who’s there to teach her a new method of survival, one based on following primal urges and desires. His no-strings-attached lessons require her to abandon her constant need for control. Her carefully built walls are obliterated.

Gwen discovers there’s a beautiful world outside her prison. Freedom is exhilarating—and terrifying. When she starts to feel something for J.C., she fears for her heart. Especially as she realizes that he has secrets of his own. Secrets that don't want to set him free.

BOOK ONE OF TWO. This series can be read alone or with the Fixed Trilogy.

About Laurelin: Laurelin Paige is the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She's a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there's kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn't seem to complain, however. When she isn't reading or writing sexy stories, she's probably singing, watching Mad Men and the Walking Dead, or dreaming of Adam Levine.

Laurelin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurelinpaige
Laurelin's Website: http://laurelinpaige.com
Laurelin's Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/z1ugH

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/1wfjYWp




 
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The Replacement/The Prisoner by Rachael Wade Blog Tour - #reviews & #giveaways

http://xpressobooktours.com/2014/07/07/tour-sign-up-the-replacement-the-prisoner-by-rachael-wade/

Book & Author details:

The Replacement & The Prisoner by Rachael Wade
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult


Synopsis for The Replacement (January 24th 2014):
*Contains sexually explicit content and mature subject matter, including language and elements of abuse.*

A gritty New Adult drama about a young woman’s self-destructive quest to find purpose, self-worth, and love in a broken world.

My name is Elise Duchamp. I’m twenty-three years old and I’m known as the town whore.

No, not the kind who exchanges sexual favors for money. The other kind. The kind who gives it all away for free, whenever and however she likes. I am that girl. The one everyone whispers about and the one none of the girls seem to like, because all of their boyfriends either want to sleep with me or already have. Promiscuity is my thing—the kind that slowly, violently turns my insides black, but gives me something I need.

All things considered, I’m not completely reckless. I’m safe, and contrary to popular opinion, I do have a heart. I live in a world of careless choices, and with those choices come careless people. I cannot judge them, because I am one of them. I too bow down to the altar of the self-serving. I am not a good friend. I am not and never could be anyone’s girlfriend. I’m convinced any goodness in me shriveled up and died long ago.

But I am a replacement. That is something I know how to be, and this is a story of the lengths I’d go to in order to keep it that way.


Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy from Author and Xpresso Book Tours
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult Novella
 My The Replacement Review...

This book had me go through a plethora of emotions reading Elise's journey. It's amazing the damage words can do. The choices Elise makes because of self hate and lack of self worth are astonishing.


Elise 's character will not be for all. Some will hate her, some will relate to her, some will feel sorry for her and some will be neutral. Words have broken Elise. She believes she doesn't deserve happiness and all she has to own his her beauty so she uses it as a weapon. 
"You just want to hurt people, because you've been hurt."
Elise is hurt so she hurts people back and doesn't let anyone in until Ryder and then eventually Natalie. With Ryder she loses her heart but doesn't know how to accept her happiness so she self sabatoges it.  When she finally realizes she wants friends she reaches out to Natalie and for a brief moment she is happy with this friendship and Ryder.  Then the consequences to her actions rear their ugly heads and she does the ultimate action that finally destroys everything. 
"For the record, I knew you were broken. Not like it was a secret. I wanted to know you anyways."
Watching her destroy her happiness was hard to read. You want to shake her and you scream for her not to make her bad choices because you know the consequences are going to be big.
"It's more than typical daddy issues,"
For Ryder he likes to fix pretty broken things. You realize that he has the patience of a saint and a heart of gold to be able to forgive and wait out Elise's journey not knowing that she will pick him in the end.
"We all have a past, Elise. Sometimes we don't like where the road takes us; sometimes it leads us exactly where we need to be. I don't regret my past, and I don't give a damn about yours. All I care about is this."
"Go ahead. Give me all you've got. Rip my fucking heart out if that's what you need to do. But it won't change this. I love you and I know you love me."
This is not your typical love story but it does of a happy ending. It's a journey and evolution of a severely broken girl trying to heal and find her worth and her happiness


Life's too short, and love's too good to pass up for some sham deal. You don' think there's something better out there? You're wrong. I know because I found it-the real stuff-and I'm the last person on the damn planet who deserves it. If the universe can hand me some, it sure as hell can hand some to you. Besides it's not a matter of deserving. It's a matter of respect. Unconditional grace.

4 Not your typical beautiful Thumbs Up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren


Synopsis for The Prisoner (July 24th 2014):

***THE PRISONER is a novella (approx. 25,000 words) intended to be read AFTER The Replacement. Contains explicit material and language.***

My name is Christian Walker, and Elise Duchamp is my drug of choice.

No matter how hard I try to break the habit, it’s a lost cause. Okay, maybe I haven’t really tried to quit this particular habit. All I can think about is owning her. Making her mine. Can you really blame me? With that sinful body, luscious mouth, and wicked tongue, she’s every man’s dream, and she knows it.

No one is immune to her charm, not even me, a man who has everything—a beautiful wife, an office with a view, and more money than most people can spend in one lifetime. Only I know how to make her toes curl. Only I know her body better than the other men she screws in her free time. None of them can compare to me.

But the joke is on me. I’m the prisoner.

The one who will never compare to him. The one man who makes me see red. His name is stored in her cell phone. It’s the first one she calls out to, the first one she cries for when all hell breaks loose. Ryder Jacobson.

The name makes me cringe.

She loves him, and I love her. In my own way, I always will. But the bad guy doesn’t always belong with the bad girl. Sometimes the bad girl needs a good man to believe in her, to give her that final push toward ultimate transformation. I wish I was that good man. That I could be her happily ever after. I guess that’s the thing about prisoners, though. They’re left alone with their torment, and in the end, they have no one to blame but themselves.

Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy from Author and Xpresso Book Tours
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult Novella

My The Prisoner Review ...

In The Replacement I had mixed feelings about Christian Walker, so to finally get to see what was going on was quite refreshing.  I have to admit who I thought Christian was the man to be, was so totally off the mark.


Christian was a man who got everything he wanted and then some until he met Elise Duchamp.  After meeting her he has to possess her to the point of unhealthy obsession.  In The Replacement at times I was routing for him but then I fell in love with Ryder and Christian became second fiddle.  Now that I know that Christian is not as innocent or so hard done by my opinion is starting to change.

Lust and love is a fine line but for Christian his desire and needs turn into obsession not love.
Love propels you to change, because love is evolution. Obsession shackles you into repeating the same pattern over and over, until it drives you both mad.  Sometimes they go hand in hand, but at least this time, I know the difference.
But after losing what he thought was dear to him softens Christian and again changes your view on him.  Christian has many layers to him even though many are superficial but it still causes a complex man yearning for something more.  Will Christian turn a new leaf and learn? Who knows? Will he be free of his shackles. We hope so but ...Christian may not be a man who learn from his mistakes. I didn't love this novella as much as the novel but I found it refreshing and intriguing to delve into the mind of Christian Walker.

3 Obsessed Thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren


Purchase The Replacement:


Giveaway:


Tour-wide giveaway (US only)
--Signed copy of The Replacement
--An ebook copy of The Prisoner
--Signed swag
----

AUTHOR BIO
Rachael Wade is the Amazon bestselling author of The Preservation Series, The Resistance Trilogy, and the upcoming sci-fi series, The Keepers Trilogy. When she’s not writing, she’s busy learning French, watching too many movies, and learning how to protect animals and the environment. Visit her at www.RachaelWade.com and www.LightsOnOutreach.com, or come chat with her on Twitter via @RachaelWade


Author Links:
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Cover Reveal - Ready or Not by J.L. Berg

We're so excited to reveal the cover for READY OR NOT by J.L. Berg, which releases December 2nd!

READY OR NOT is the fourth book in the bestselling Ready series and we can't wait for you guys to get your hands on it. In the mean time, how great is this cover?

 

RoN iBooks

About READY OR NOT:

Born into wealth and privilege, free-spirited Liv Quinn left it all behind when she realized there was more to life than living off of trust funds and barely skating by. Since then, she’s worked and fought for everything she’s earned and never looked back at the world or the family she left behind.
Jackson Reid is starting over with a new job in a brand new city. A single father to his son Noah, he hopes the change will help strengthen the bond that has seemed to suffer since puberty reared its ugly head. What he hadn’t planned on was Liv—his exotic next-door neighbor who drives him insane with her wild, new age lifestyle, but still manages to leave him aching for more.
As challenges arise and feelings intensify, will these neighbors be able to look past their differences and find a middle ground? When love comes knocking, will they be ready, or not?
Add it to Goodreads here! Preorder READY OR NOT here! Sign up for J.L. Berg's newsletter here!  

About J.L. Berg

J.L. Berg is the USA Today bestselling author of the Ready Series. She is a California native living in the beautiful state of historic Virginia. Married to her high school sweetheart, they have two beautiful girls that drive them batty on a daily basis. When she's not writing, you will find her with her nose stuck in a romance novel, in a yoga studio or devouring anything chocolate. J.L. Berg is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, LLC.




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