Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Release Day Blitz - More Than Him by Jay McLean


18879990

Book title: More Than Him
Author: Jay McLean
Series: More #3
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Release date: January 28, 2014
Hosted by: Forever Me Romance


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us." - Marianne Williamson

We live in a world of darkness and shadows,
where monsters hide and aim to ruin.
And they did.
They ruined us and turned our dreams into nightmares.
But now we're back.
And we're fighting.
Not just for us, or for each other, but for our light.






$.99 SPECIAL SALE (Ends Tomorrow)

More Than This (Book 1)

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More Than Her (Book 2)

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More Than Him (Book 3)

18879990

Amazon US link:  http://amzn.to/1liA53P




 
 Author of Mature YA / New Adult contemporary novels, MORE THAN THIS, MORE THAN HER, and a soon to be released sequel, MORE THAN HIM. I enjoy reading and writing books that make people laugh, cry and swoon for dreamy book boyfriends. When not doing either of those, I can be found looking after my two little boys, and trying to avoid house work at all costs.




Release Day Launch - Seeking Her by Cora Carmack

We are so excited to share in the Release Day Launch and giveaway for Cora Carmack's SEEKING HER!! SEEKING HER is a novella in Cora’s bestselling Finding It Series, published by William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins)! Go out and grab your copy today!  

Seeking Her    

About SEEKING HER:
Jackson Hunt gets his turn in this Finding It prequel novella …

Jackson Hunt hasn't been out of the military for long, but he needs to get a job and find a sense of normalcy if he is going to keep his demons at bay. The job that falls into his lap, though, is anything but normal.

Becoming bodyguard (and babysitter) to spoiled rich girl Kelsey Summers isn't exactly what he had in mind, but it's a chance to travel, to get away. The catch: Kelsey's father doesn't want her to know she's being followed.

She's vibrant and infuriating, exciting and reckless, mysterious and familiar. When Jackson sees her falling into the same patterns he suffered years ago, he decides it's time to stop watching and help her instead. But getting to know Kelsey is more difficult than he thought, especially because the more he knows her, the more he wants her.

Excerpt:

I was going to have to find some way to cope with this. If not, I was better off calling Mr. Summers and suggesting he find someone else to take over his daughter-watch.
I felt a pang of something at that thought. It was a general kind of discomfort, and I wasn’t sure whether it was the thought of returning home or something else that made that thought so unappealing.

After the cooling walk earlier, and now standing under the cool, calming rush of water, it was easier to think that I could control myself, but I knew better. It always seemed easier in my head than it really was.

I wiped the water from my eyes, and tried to think of some other way to deal. There was always the hope that Kelsey would get bored. That she would mellow out. If she only partied a couple nights a week, I should be able to resist. But that seemed unlikely.

All that restless energy; the way she’d soaked up the attention from the people around her. I couldn’t see her giving that up. And it was working for her. She was still in the phase where partying made her feel good. That was the one thing that helped me stay clean. The few times I’d slipped up since I started the program had left me miserable and angry, and even more frustrated than when I started. I’d found new ways to chase the high. And maybe that wasn’t any healthier, not when one way involved being in the midst of flying bullets.

It wasn’t the same kind of rush, but it did the trick. I pictured Kelsey again, laughing with her head thrown back, her shirt falling off her shoulder and displaying the gentle curve of her neck. It reminded me of the way she’d tossed her head back that first day out in the woods.

The memory of that caused a different kind of rush in me, and I groaned, pressing my forehead into the tile. Before I could help myself, I pictured her long legs straddling that guy in the gardens. The bright green material of her bra, and the way it conformed to her perfect chest. She leaned back, her fingertips trailing from the bark of the tree to his shoulders.

In an instant, the memory shifted into fantasy, and those were my shoulders she clung to, not his. That was my undoing. There was only so much resisting I could do in one night.  

Buy Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble   



Seeking Her Release Day Launch Banner


Headshot

  About Cora Carmack: Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.  

Links:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Author Goodreads
SEEKING HER Goodreads


 a Rafflecopter giveaway    

Monday, 27 January 2014

Book Boyfriend Monday - Sloane Michaels & #review of The Plus One Chronicles Boxed Set

 I was so thankful for this read because it has been awhile since I have had an Alpha male BF. So the honors this week go to Sloan Michaels from The Plus One Chronicles Boxed Set by Jennifer Lyon.


Oh! Sloan he stole my heart by....

  1. Being a big ol' softy with a HUGE heart 

  2. Being so loyal and loving (well once he got his head out of his ass)

  3. Being a firecracker in the bedroom and sexy as hell but mainly for loving Kat flaws and all. 


Some examples of why Sloan slayed me:





All Quotes and
phrases from Kindle version of The Plus One Chronicles by Jennifer Lyon

ADD TO GOODREADS

BUY: AMAZON | B & N | KOBO | iBOOKS (Canada)

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H2WZZY0/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00H2WZZY0&linkCode=as2&tag=lirebr-20

The Plus One Chronicles Boxed Set (The Plus One Chronicles #1, 2, 3)

by
Don’t miss this bestselling, sexy and emotional trilogy in a boxed set!

A proposition brings billionaire ex-UFC Fighter Sloane Michaels and beautifully damaged Kat Thayne together in fiery passion, but will a dark and dangerous obsession tear them apart?

**This boxed set is intended for readers 18 and over due to sexual content.**

Book One: THE PROPOSITION:
Rich, sexy and volatile, Sloane Michaels has a dark agenda that keeps his heart on ice. His extreme wealth gives him the control he craves and his skills as an ex UFC fighter the tools he’ll need to extract his ultimate revenge. But when the woman he never believed he’d see again crosses his path, Sloane is caught between the vengeance he needs and a sexual conquest he craves.

Kat Thayne has been in survival mode for six years, hiding behind the sweet creations for her bakery. But when a random carjacking brings her face-to-face with her darkest fears and hottest fantasy, Kat is forced out of hiding and offered a dangerously passionate proposition. One she knows she isn’t strong enough to refuse.

Book Two: POSSESSION:

Savagely sexy billionaire Sloane Michaels ruthlessly controls his life and everything in it. Even his sex partners are carefully negotiated plus-one arrangements, including his latest, the fiery bakery owner, Kat Thayne. But Sloane’s control is challenged when his mentor becomes seriously ill, and Kat takes over more and more his heart. Sloane is in a desperate balancing act of trying to keep the woman he loves while attaining the vengeance he craves.

After surviving an attack six years ago, Kat Thayne escaped her fears in the protective world of her beloved bakery. Then Sloane Michaels storms into her life, making her feel beautiful, strong and sexy. Yet as Kat pushes her boundaries and uncovers a dangerous secret in her past, Sloane’s controlling side emerges. Worried that Sloane will possess her mind, body and soul, Kat fights to keep her hard won independence. But just as Sloane demands her complete surrender, she discovers he has a dark side that could destroy them both.

Book Three: OBSESSION:

In the explosive conclusion to The Plus One Chronicles Trilogy, obscenely rich, jaggedly handsome and still obsessed with love and vengeance, Sloane Michaels must face an impossible choice: lose the woman he loves or betray his twin sister’s memory.

Watching the man she adores destroy himself for revenge, Kat Thayne knows she should run and never look back. But running isn't her way anymore. Kat has grown into a fierce fighter, and the man who helped her get there is the very man who needs her strength now. But as the sizzling passion and hard-won love bind Kat and Sloane even tighter together, old secrets and lies explode around them. Danger threatens. And Kat soon realizes that she’s risking more than her heart to be with Sloane…she’s risking her very life


ADD TO GOODREADS

BUY: AMAZON | B & N | KOBO | iBOOKS (Canada)


Source: Kindle
Genre: Adult Contemporary

My Review...

I came across this book from a recommendation from a friends. She was all 'Have you read this book. I love Sloan' After hearing that I usually have to see for myself especially since her and I have similar taste in our book boyfriends.  I was hardly into the book and she was already foaming at the book to see if I loved Sloan as much as she did.  At this time I was only a few pages in so I said not yet.  She thought I was being harsh but...now that I am done I totally have to agree I LOVE SLOAN!!!!


My love for Sloan was gradual as well as my love for this series.  When I first started to read it I was like 'ok I like this and it was probably going to get a 4 out of 5 but as I kept reading the story kept getting better and better and my love for Sloan was like a slow simmer.  

In this book we have Sloan Michaels who has a shit load of baggage and one focus revenge . He has no time for distraction so when wants to get his rocks off he engages in a plus one arrangement which is sex with very little strings but no commitment.  

We also have Kat Thayne who is physically damaged but has a fighting spirit under her damaged psyche.  The damage was a from brutal parents and a mugging attack.

Once Sloan sees Kat he is instantly drawn to her and wants to protect her.  Very quickly Sloan convinces Kat with his plus one arrangement by in return he will teach her self defense so she can learn to protect her self and regain her self worth again. 



After Kat's attack she knows there is more to the story but with the help of Sloan and her new friends she starts to realize the brutal truth.  At the same time she gains new love, family and friends especially with Drake.  The whole story line with Drake stole my heart and had me sobbing like a baby.  

During this Plus one arrangement very quickly it becomes so much more between Sloan and Kat.


I have to admit I absolutely loved this series and Sloan.  I loved the story. I loved the relationship with Drake.  I loved the chemistry between Sloan and Kat.  Loved the way he loved Kat with her physical flaws and all.  This book hit the spot for me and my Alpha fix. Thanks for the recommendation Kathy!!!!! 

5 Sloan Loving Thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren

Dark Spirit (Spirit Wild #2) - #review

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HQJ647G/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00HQJ647G&linkCode=as2&tag=lirebr-20
Dark Spirit (Spirit Wild #2)

by
Romy Sarika has spent much of her life suffering at the hands of a sadistic cult leader. Twenty years earlier she watched him kill her mother, and now she awaits the same fate. But when the self-proclaimed prophet orders Romy killed, the wolf part of her rises up and for the first time she shifts. Managing to save herself, she leaves death and chaos in her wake.

Alone in the woods and badly injured, Romy is found by Jace Wolf and Gabe Cheval, two powerful and striking Chanku who help her heal and simultaneously unleash sensual desires in her that are as new and intense as her wolf-like abilities. But just as Romy’s opening herself to this new erotic world and the passionate connections she’s forming with both men, danger is closing in.

Bent on revenge and driven by bloodlust, cult members are pursuing the trio. Discovery could mean not just Romy’s death but destruction of the Chanku way of life. With their lives at stake and the Chanku race in jeopardy, the three must fight to save themselves and the future of their proud race





BUY: AMAZON | B & N | KOBO

Source: eARC for Honest Review from Beyond the Page via NetGalley
Genre: Paranormal Romance with MM, MF, MFM & MMF

My Review...  

So the Chanku are a guilty pleasure for me and have been since the original series Wolf Tale.  This series involves the second generation of the Chanku from The Wolf Tale series.

In this book Gabe (Anton's son) and Jace (Adam's son) are best friend and partners who are surveying the quality of wolf packs in their areas.  During this time they come across a very injured wolf who happens to be Chanku.  Following Adam's foot steps Jace heals this new wolf to only be extremely drawn to her.



Romy has lived a HORRIBLE life at a compound undergone dreadful things.  To escape death she shifts into a wolf which saves her life.  


Once she realizes more about the Chanku and Jace and Gabe she starts to experience for the first time positive happy things.  For the first time Romy realizes that sex and sexuality can be a good thing. With the help of Jace and Gabe they help heal her and make her whole.


She is attracted to both Jace and Gabe but her heart has different ideas and it is soley drawn to Jace.  I loved Jace and Gabe's relationship and I was hoping for Romy to be part of a threesome but sadly in the end it was only Jace and Romy with Gabe always being part of them but not mated.  Even though I didn't get my wish, Jace and Romy were still a great match.


I adore this series. It might not be for all but for some reason it totally works for me. :) 

3 Chanku Loving Thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren

Sunday, 26 January 2014

My Sweetest Escape (My Favorite Mistake #2) - #review

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F12GZQU/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00F12GZQU&linkCode=as2&tag=lirebr-20
My Sweetest Escape (My Favorite Mistake #2)

by
The past will always find you.

Jos Archer was the girl with the perfect life; until the night it all came crashing down around her. Now, nine months later, she still hasn't begun to pick up the pieces. Even transferring to a new college and living under the watchful eye of her older sister, Renee, isn't enough to help her feel normal again.

And then she meets Dusty Sharp. For reasons Jos can't begin to fathom, the newly reformed campus bad boy seems determined to draw her out of her shell. And if she's not careful, his knowing green eyes and wicked smile will make her feel things she's no longer sure she deserves.

But even as Dusty coaxes Jos to open up about the past, he's hiding secrets of his own. Secrets about the night her old life fell apart. When the truth is finally revealed, will it bring them closer together;or tear them apart for good?






 
Source: eARC for Honest Review from Harlequin via NetGalley
Genre: NA Contemporary

My Review...

I had first read My Favorite Mistake in 2012 and adored it so I was excited read this.  One of the downfalls was that I had read it so long ago that I was lost on a lot of the details.  I remember so much about Hunter and Taylor but Renee was a smaller part of the first book and a big part of the second book so with the delay in between it created a bit of a gap for me.  So my recommendation would be to re-read book 1 first or read this book near to the completion of reading My Favorite Mistake.

As for this story I thought it was cute.  Jos who is Renee's little sister is forced to come back home after unknown events at her previous school.  Jos is having struggles fitting in and dealing with her tragedy.   This new Jos, Renee doesn't know or how to deal with so with the help of her friends she gets to know Jos and helps her try to move on.

In Jos's new exitistence she meets Hunter's friend Dusty (who has his own secrets and past) and Hannah (who is brave, funny and also a tragic past). With the help of Hannah and Dusty Jos is able to move forward and start to live each today for today and enjoy life.


With Dusty she is quite drawn to him and can't quite put him in the 'just friends' box especially with all the mixed signals that Dusty is giving Jos as well.


Jos and Dusty are both dealing with their own pasts but reality collides creating a whole world of hurt and new pain which causes a butt load of new drama.  With this part of the story I felt the potential of some big emotional upheaval but when the truth came to the surface I felt it a bit anti-climatic and was frustrated with Jos's stubbornness.

Throughout the book I loved the support of Jos's new friends /pseudo family with the exception of her birth sister Renee who throughout I wanted to throttle with her controlling ways.


In the end super cute story with some predictable parts and anti-climatic bits but a NA series worth getting wrapped in.

3 Sweet Thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren

Saturday, 25 January 2014

Unraveled Blog Tour - #review, #dream cast & #excerpt


Blurb
Twenty-five-year-old Sgt. Gray Phillips is at a crossroads in his life: stay in the Marine Corps or get out and learn to be a civilian? He’s got forty-five days of leave to make up his mind but the people in his life aren’t making the decision any easier.  His dad wants him to get out; his grandfather wants him to stay in. And his growing feelings for Sam Anderson are wreaking havoc with his heart…and his mind.  He believes relationships get ruined when a Marine goes on deployment.  So now he’s got an even harder decision to make: take a chance on Sam or leave love behind and give his all to the Marines.
Twenty-two year old Samantha Anderson lost her husband to an IED in Afghanistan just two months after their vows. Two years later, Sam is full of regretsthat she didn't move with her husband to Alaska; that she allowed her friends to drift away; that she hasn't taken many chances in life. Now, she's met Gray and taking a risk on this Marine could be her one opportunity to feel alive and in love again. But how can she risk her heart on another military man who could share the same tragic fate as her husband?
Note: Although these books are part of a series, they do not need to be read in order
********
Excerpt : Sam and Gray together:
“I’ve been watching you all night.” His mouth was right above the tip of my ear and I felt something crack inside me, a fissure was forming in the mask I’d donned earlier today or perhaps his breath, his touch, his words were simply hastening the demise of the barriers I’d held between myself and everyone else for two years. Because inside my body, it felt like there was an awakening and every fiber of my being reached toward him, upward and outward as if I was a flower on the first day of a spring rain. I lifted my head to gaze up, wide-eyed and anxious with anticipation.


Some part of my brain was telling me that the storage closet was just two steps to my right at the end of the hallway and the exit door was just beyond that. My Rover was outside and all three were safer than standing here almost in his embrace but I couldn’t hear the warning over the pounding of my heartbeat. He bent toward me, his face serious and even in the low light of the corner I could see the gold flecks feathering out from the center of his eyes.


“I'm going to kiss you now.” His voice was deep, rough and matched the rest of his thoroughly masculine body.


“I know,” I whispered back. And I wanted that kiss from Gray who ordinarily wouldn't be my type at all. I wanted it more than I wanted to breath. When his mouth molded against mine, it felt like bliss as if my whole cold body had been submerged into a warm bath. If I thought I was engulfed before it was nothing like I felt at that moment. My entire world—my thoughts, my feelings, my senses—were full of him. I tasted the mint and hops on his tongue. I inhaled the cinnamon, bergamot, ocean of his faint cologne into my airways. I felt the calloused palm on my waist and then lower against the exposed skin of my thigh. His dense muscles were drawn tight under his skin and the fabric of his t-shirt and he felt as strong as a citadel. The moan that had been building since he first backed me into the wall escaped. It had been so long since I’d had the touch of a man’s hand on any part of me and I nearly wept at the pleasure of it. 


Dream Cast



Sgt. Gray Phillips (Kellan Lutz
)


Samantha Anderson (Shailene Woodley)



Source: eARC for Honest Review from Author 
Genre: NA Contemporary

My Review...

One thing I love about this series is that it can be read as a stand alone or a series.  I have only read so far book 2 & 3 but I have Noah's book (#1) on my TBR queue.  With this story we have Gray Phillips who is a Marine and friends with Noah and Bo.  Gray is at a crossroads with his life. Does he stay in the Marines or try something different.  With this decision weighing heavy on his head he goes to visit Noah and Bo hoping this trip will help him figure out what he wants.  One thing he does know is that he doesn't want a relationship believing that any relationship with him being deployed will lead to cheating and destroy the relationship.  So, once burnt he puts up a wall only having 'friends with benefits' which gets his needs taken care of without getting hurt. 



While away the one thing he didn't count on was losing his heart.  For Sam Anderson she has been mourning since the loss of her husband.  She wants nothing to do with men especially men in the military.  After their first meeting all bets are off and they struggle to figure out what they are to one another.  A temporary sexual relationship turns into so much more.  Once they both let their hearts get involved Gray gets scared it acts a bit like a douche bag which leads to shit hitting the fan.  But it also leads to his true emotions towards Sam

"You love her enough, you never stop fighting for her. Never stop showing her how much she matters. you give it your all and even if she doesn't accept it, you lived up to your own standards and you can walk away with no regrets. But I'm telling you, Gray, that if you love her, she's going to love you back, I know it."

With Gray's bad decision I got so frustrated with Sam not even giving Gray the chance to explain to the fact that Gray didn't really screw up he had a thought which the king of assholes took to the next level.  So really Ethan Drake was the douche bag but this relationship caused raw emotions to the surface which made Sam also respond poorly.  But in the end I was very happy on how it all panned out. 


I like the way Jen Frederick writes, I feel she captures banter with ease with a good balance of angst and true emotions.  I am really starting to adore this series and can't wait to find out more from these Woodland boys. 

4 Marine Loving Thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren

My Review to Unspoken Click Here

Woodlands Series (Book 1 & 2)



Cover: Undeclared (Book One)


Blurb:


For four years, Grace Sullivan wrote to a Marine she never met, and fell in love. But when his deployment ended, so did the letters. Ever since that day, Grace has been coasting, academically and emotionally. The one thing she’s decided? No way is Noah Jackson — or any man — ever going to break her heart again.


Noah has always known exactly what he wants out of life. Success. Stability. Control. That’s why he joined the Marines and that’s why he’s fighting his way — literally — through college. Now that he’s got the rest of his life on track, he has one last conquest: Grace Sullivan. But since he was the one who stopped writing, he knows that winning her back will be his biggest battle yet


 Unspoken  (Book Two)


Blurb:
Whore. Slut. Typhoid Mary.
I've been called all these at Central College. One drunken night, one act of irresponsible behavior, and my reputation was ruined. Guys labeled me as easy and girls shied away. To cope, I stayed away from Central social life and away from Central men, so why is it that my new biology lab partner is so irresistible to me?


He's everything I shouldn't want. A former Marine involved in illegal fighting with a quick trigger temper and an easy smile for all the women. His fists aren't the danger to me, though, it's his charm. He's sliding his way into my heart and I'm afraid that he's going to be the one to break me.


Impulsive. Unthinking. Hot tempered.
I allow instinct to rule my behavior. If it feels good, do it, has been my motto because if I spend too much time thinking, I'll begin to remember exactly where I came from. At Central College, I've got fighting and I've got women and I thought I was satisfied until I met her.


She's everything I didn't realize I wanted and the more time I spend with her, the more I want her. But she's been hurt too much in the past and I don't want to be the one to break her. I know I should walk away, but I just can't.


Bonus Content: Upon reaching the USA Today Bestselling milestone, I wrote a 10,000 word epilogue as a thank you to the readers who loved and supported Unspoken.  I posted it for free on my blog but at the urging of readers, I have added it to the original version.  

Note: This is a New Adult Contemporary Romance with mature content and sexually explicit scenes. 91,000+ words. Standalone novel.