Wednesday 31 July 2013

Bully (Fall Away #1) - Review

Bully (Fall Away #1)

by
My name is Tate. He doesn't call me that, though. He would never refer to me so informally, if he referred to me at all.

We're neighbors, and once, we were best friends. But then, one summer, he turned on me and has made it his mission to screw up my life at every opportunity. I've been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got more sadistic as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to hide from him. I worried about what was around every corner and behind every door.

So I left.

I spent a year studying abroad and bathed in the freedom of life without Jared. Now I'm back to finish up high school and get the hell out of here forever. I'm hoping that after a year of breathing room, he's moved on and forgotten all about me.

But even if he hasn't changed, I have. I'm not interested in avoiding him or turning the other cheek anymore. We're going to go head to head, because neither of us wants to back down.



Source: Kindle
YA Contemporary with adult content 

My Review...

The you know typical I pick on you because I like you scenario but it was not left in the school yard but taken to the max all the way to senior year.


You know the saying that boys pick on girls usually because they had a crush on them. This definitely was the case for Jared and Tatum but on steroids.

For Tate (Tatum) she once had a bff whom she loved like no one else until the day he stopped.  He not only stopped but he became the king of douchebags.

I was shocked how far Jared took his antics but throughout the journey you got to see snippets of why he was such an ass.

Once the truth comes out, trust is put to the test and love is on the line.

I really did like this book and story but I may have been less forgiving than Tate was. I can't wait for Until You (Fall Away #1.5) from Jared's POV. I am sure that with that I will be just as forgiving has Tate was.

Great story about friends to enemies to friends to lovers and of course a story about second chances.

4 bullying thumbs up
 thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Truth (Finding Anna #3) - #Review

Truth (Finding Anna #3)

by
The third installment of the Finding Anna Series.

For the last two months, Brianna has discovered something she never thought she would again. Hope. After the horror of being Ian’s slave for ten months, a fate she never imagined she’d escape, it feels as if she is living a dream. She has freedom she hadn’t expected to have again, and she wakes up every morning not fearing what the day will bring. There is also Stephan. The man who saved her from the daily torture she had to endure at the hands of Ian and his friends. The same man who makes her heart race with just the thought of him. Life is good.

Outside forces are determined to conspire against them, however. When Brianna’s father shows up on her doorstep, it sends her world spiraling out of control. He brings with him new information about how Brianna ended up in Ian’s clutches, but will it make a difference? Will Stephan be able to find a way to make Ian pay for all he made Brianna suffer? As Brianna and Stephan try to find out the truth, their relationship is tested. She is forced to face her past head on, and deal with the ugly reality of what happened to her. Will Stephan’s love be enough to see her through her newest challenge, or will the fragile trust they’ve built come crumbling down around them as the truth makes itself known.





Source: eARC for Honest Review from The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House via NetGalley
Genre: BDSM Contemporary

My Review...

I'm not sure how many books there are going to be in this series but these cliffhangers are starting to kill me.

I just want a HEA for Stephan and Brianna. So much tragedy and heartbreak, let them find the love and happiness they both deserve.

The book starts off from the last cliffhanger and starts the ball rolling for how things proceed.

Right away Brianna goes back into herself but with the love and unconditional support of Stephan Brianna finally starts to come back to present reality.

Dear God! Stephan may have a bad reputation with people not understanding his lifestyle or choices but he is a friggin' saint when it comes to Brianna. His love, loyalty and protection towards Brianna is inspiring and beautiful.

Stephan is a known dominant and he wants to bring Brianna into his world but it is a little too soon but will there love be enough to survive if she can't be what he wants her to be?

It's just too bad that Brianna can't see what is right in front of her and let go of her horrible past.  She makes waves at getting better with making friends and getting stronger but her past and self doubt leave her to put a wall up and shut out Stephan. This leads her to make the worst mistake ever but we won't find out for sure until the next friggin' book. Why Sherri why do you like to torture us??????


I love this series.  It is a beautiful love story in an unconventional world.

4 Stephan loving Thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up

Lauren

Slave (Finding Anna #1) - Review and Buy link on Amazon
Need (Finding Anna #2) - Review and Buy link on Amazon

Monday 29 July 2013

Book Boyfriend Monday - Gavin (Mack) Mackenzie

This week I thought we needed another strapping cowboy for book boyfriend Monday which happens to be  Gavin (Mack) Mackenzie from Shine Not Burn by Elle Casey

What some of the qualities of why Mack made the cut well...
  1. He has a heart of gold
  2. Once he knows what is right for his heart and soul he won't settle for anything less
  3. He is a gorgeous cowboy (Duh! of course he makes the cut)


Some examples of why Mack makes my heart go pitter patter:
"What are you looking at?" I asked in a smartass tone.  "A beautiful woman who makes me think I can fly."

"And then some means you were naked, I was naked, and we were both doing things to each other's naked bodies that leaves nothing to imagination. I know how you feel inside."

"What are you doing, you maniac?!"  He was standing there in the middle of the bathroom completely naked, his cock like a missile pointing right at me.  He grinned big. "I'm getting in the shower with my alleged wife."
"Come on, wife. Come take a little ride with me. Let me show you all the things you'll be missing when you go back East and leave me here with a broken heart."

"It sounds crazy to say it out loud, but I distinctly remember thinking when I saw you sitting at that blackjack table that you were the girl for me."

"You're right about that. Once I saw you. I had no choice. I was done for good. You're the last woman I ever want to be with."
All quotes or phrases from Shine Not Burn by Elle Casey

Shine Not Burn

by
IT HAPPENED IN VEGAS.

I can't be held responsible. Things that happen there are supposed to stay there, right? Right? Yeeeah. Not so much.

Andie's just days away from tying the knot, but there's just ooooone little glitch. Apparently, she's already married. Or someone with her name is married to a guy out in Oregon of all places, and the courthouse won't issue her a marriage license until it's all cleared up. Tripping her way through cow pies and country songs to meet up with a man who gets around places on horseback is her very last idea of how to have a good time, but if she's going to get married, make partner at the firm, and have two point five kids before she's thirty-five, she needs to get to the bottom of this snafu and fix it quick ... before her fiance finds out and everything she's been working toward goes up in flames.

Synopsis from Goodreads

Play Me Release Day Blitz - #Giveaway & Excerpt of #playme

Play Me by Diane Alberts
Take a Chance,  #3
Entangled Publishing - July 2013
 
BOOK SUMMARY:

Even the best-laid plans can go awry.

Single-mom Kiersten Worth knows a bottle of champagne and night of hot, no-strings-attached sex is the perfect solution to her jilted bride blues…and Garrett Kelly, long-time friend and her teenaged son’s sexy basketball coach, is just the stud for the job.

Garrett wants more from the elusive temptress than a casual affair, but he never expects it to come in the form of an unexpected pregnancy. When he proposes an unorthodox solution—move in and raise their baby together—Kiersten has to decide whether to let down her guard and open her heart to the man who secretly loved her for years, or risk losing his tender embrace for good.

 
Author Information

Diane Alberts has always been a dreamer with a vivid imagination, but it wasn't until 2011 that she put her pen where her brain was, and became a published author.  Since receiving her first contract offer, she has yet to stop writing. Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, a cat, and a Senegal parrot. In the rare moments when she's not writing, she can usually be found hunched over one knitting project or another.
She is a multi-published, bestselling author with Entangled Publishing, Swoon Romance, and Decadent Publishing. ON ONE CONDITION hit #18 on the Barnes and Noble Bestseller List, and TRY ME hit #76 on Amazon. CAPTIVATED BY YOU hit #31 on the Barnes and Noble bestseller list.  Her goal is to write so many fantastic books that even a non-romance book fan will know her name. She also writes New Adult books under the name Jen McLaughlin. Diane is represented by Louise Fury from the L. Perkins Agency
 
GIVEAWAY:
Diane is offering up a $10 Gift Card to Amazon or B&N for one lucky reader.

Excerpt:
Three months, two weeks, one day, and nineteen hours.
That’s how long it had been since Garrett walked away from Kiersten. She barely even spoke to him anymore, other than a soft hello as they passed on the court after practices. It was probably better that way. Anything more than a brief encounter hurt too much. He’d spent most of his life pretending not to care about her. Pretending he was fine without her. But now that he’d had one night in her arms, he knew he wasn’t.
And he wanted her more than he could ever possibly describe.
Oh well. Tough shit. He wasn’t going to get her on his terms. And he wouldn’t accept hers. 
He needed a drink. Or three.
He unlocked the door to his apartment and froze. Pots clanged in the kitchen. Dropping his gym bag to the carpet, he walked around the corner. Only his buddy Mike had a copy of his key, and that was just in case of an emergency or if he somehow lost his own set. But why would Mike let himself in and then cook? To the best of his knowledge, Mike didn’t even know how to cook.
“Mike?” he called out.
“Uh, no,” Kiersten replied. “It’s me.”
He tensed and walked slowly into his kitchen, his heart beating rapidly in his ears. “How did you get in here?”
She flushed. “I asked Mike for the key. Told him I needed something for Chris to practice at home.” She waved a hand. “He didn’t question me, thank God. My story was weak.”
He studied her. “Why are you here? You could have just knocked.”
“I was worried you wouldn’t let me in,” she said softly, averting her eyes. “So I took matters into my own hands.”
“And the dinner?”
“A way to try to make up for what I did. It’s pathetic and not big enough, I know, but I had to do something.”
He raised his brows. “You could give me space, like I asked. Why cook for me? What do you want?”
She looked at him. “I thought you might like to eat some food. Last time I checked, you were human.”
“It’s been over three months since we talked or hung out.” He crossed his arms over his chest, not sure what her sudden reemergence in his life meant. What game did she play? “And last time I checked, we weren’t really on speaking terms. Yet here you are. Cooking me dinner.”
“Yep.” She set down the spoon she was stirring the sauce with, shoulders tight as she leaned on the counter. “Pretty much.”
He looked away from her and swallowed hard. Did she realize how much it hurt him just to see her face or to hear her voice? Probably not, since he’d been the only idiot who had wanted more. Every woman paled in comparison to her. No matter how hard he tried to move on, to be attracted to another woman, there was only one person on his mind. Kiersten. But if she was here…
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Have you changed your mind about us?”
She paled and he cursed himself for jumping to foolish, optimistic conclusions. “I—no, not yet. But—”
“Then you need to leave,” he said. He raised his head and met her eyes, unwilling to back down. “I haven’t changed my mind, either. I need space.”
“It’s been three months. Isn’t that enough space?”
“No.” He drew in a ragged breath. “It’s not. Now please leave.”
She bit her lip. “No.”
“Yes.” He stalked toward her, picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and headed for the door. He tired not to remember that the last time he’d carried her like this, they’d been going up to her bedroom. “If you won’t walk out on your own, then I’ll carry you out.”
She punched his back and squirmed. “Let me down. We need to talk.”
“The time for talking is over. I need distance right now. Eventually we can be friends again. But for now?” He opened the door, set her in the hallway, and closed the door in her face. “Please go home.”
He turned away and stomped into the kitchen. Damn it, he wasn’t doing this anymore. He may have played the part of the lovesick friend for months—hell, years—now, but he was done with being a benchwarmer she pulled out when it suited her mood.
From now on, it needed to be a starting position for him…or nothing at all.
Shutting off the stove, he picked up the pot and peeked inside. She’d made his favorite meal. Cheese ravioli. Vodka sauce bubbled away in a different pot and he could smell the garlic bread in the oven.
“Listen, Garrett, we need to talk,” Kiersten said.
Garrett jumped and faced her with a glare. “What are you doing in here—again?”
“I have a key.” She waved a gold key under his nose, her nose tilted up in the air stubbornly. “And I know how to open a door on my own. I’ve been doing it since I was three.”
“Congratulations.” He snatched the key out of her hand and reached for her, determined to put her right back where he had left her. “But you need to go. I’m serious.”
She jumped out of his reach and sprinted behind the relative safety of his favorite chair. “Not until you listen to me. Sit down and shut up for a second, will you?”
He pursued her, ready to stick her back out in the hallway, sans key this time. “All I asked for was a break. Can’t you respect that?”
He bolted around the chair, reaching for her arm. Her eyes widened and she darted to the side when he feinted left and ran right, hoping to fool her into his arms. “I can’t leave until we talk,” she replied.
“Why not?” he asked in exasperation, holding his hands up. “What could possibly be so damn important?”
 She blinked at him, wringing her hands. “I’m pregnant.”

Sunday 28 July 2013

Lick (Stage Dive #1) - Review

Lick (Stage Dive #1)

by
Waking up in Vegas was never meant to be like this.

Evelyn Thomas’s plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure as hell never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hangover to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened.

One thing is for certain, being married to rock and roll’s favourite son is sure to be a wild ride




Source: Kindle
Genre: Adult Contemporary/Celebrity fiction

My Review...

Okay what is not to love about a sexy successful tattooed rock god?  Yep ! that's right nothing.


I was hooked from the first few pages with Evelyn's inner dilemma of a major hang over only to find out that she is married. Oops!

"You've exceeded all of my expectations. I wanted you to let your hair down a little. Get a life and give mankind another chance. But this is a whole new level of crazy you've ascended to. Do you really have a tattoo?" - Lauren  "Yes." - Ev

Of course things couldn't be rainbows and lollipops.  David married Ev for a reason unbeknownst to Ev but since he's hurt and rejected he is quick to get the marriage annuled but Ev is not going to get pushed around from this world.

With the interference of Mal, he forces Ev and David to explore the chance of what if.

"Seriously, I fucking love your wife, man. She's awesome. Can I have her?" - Mal

During this weekend of exploring the what if. They fall for each other.

"Yes," he said simply. "I like you the way you are, blurting out whatever shit crosses your mind. Not trying to play me, or use me. You're just...being with me. I like you." - David

"You asked me this morning in the car if I thought you were scary. The answer is yes. You scare me shitless. I don't know what I'm doing here. But I hate the thought of leaving you." - David

That should be the end of the HEA but of course since David is a celebrity it is not a shock to hear about his past relationship which burnt him and it also left him with lies and secrets which we all know come back and kick you in the ass.  But with everyone wanting a piece of David life gets even harder for Ev.
"Yes, we've got a fake blonde with a bad tan giving us trouble, officer. I'm pretty certain I saw her at a frat party doing some serious underage drinking last week. I don't want to say what happened after that but the footage is available on YouTube for your viewing pleasure if you're over eighteen." - Amanda

With a bit of shock and a big case of miscommunication, manipulation of others and a lot of groveling what if's can become reality.

"I don't even know what you're talking about. Davie said to shut up," shouted Mal above the pair's raucous laughter. "Have some respect for his touching moment with Evelyn, you assholes." - Mal
I loved the relationship of David and Ev from the banter to the passion.


I can NOT wait to find out more from this series. Loved it!!!!!!

4.5 Rock God loving thumps up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up . 5
Lauren

Saturday 27 July 2013

Smutty Saturday - Bonds of Desire (Wicked Play #3) - Review

Bonds of Desire (Wicked Play #3)

by
Book three of Wicked Play

Lawyer Allison English never planned to return to The Den—despite her naughty fantasies about being bound by owner Seth Matthews. But when club guest Tyler Wysong is injured in a scene, Seth turns to Allie for help. Aroused by both men, Allie should turn the case down. But she can't…

After his bad experience, Tyler has no interest in being with another Dom. Yet he can't deny his attraction to Master Seth. When Seth offers him a place to stay, Tyler agrees—if Allie will stay too. But what good is a chaperone who adds to his temptation?

Living with two subs brings out Seth's protective instincts, though Allie insists she's not into the lifestyle, and Tyler swears he's done with it. But the chemistry between the trio prompts them to agree to submit to him for one week, and he'll show them both the true pleasure that a Dom can provide.

The intimacy could break them all, or bind them together forever


  
Source: eARC for Honest Review from Carina Press via NetGalley
Genre: M/M/F Adult Erotica Contemporary

My Review...


I have been waiting quite awhile for Allie's book. In the last two she has been the supportive friend but also carried an air of judgement as well.

With Seth and his dominate ways, you know that there was a story there I just wasn't sure what it was so it was so great to see that Allie and Seth had a pull to one another but it never felt complete until....

Tyler who has a dark past but has a big heart and ends up being the missing link for Allie and Seth.

Allie wasn't so sure about the idea of two men coming from a strict upbringing and belonging to a world that has certain expectations to what is normal.
"I don't get it. I'm obviously way out of my element here. I don't know what to think, let alone how to fight."

But what is normal and who defines it?
"Don't fight. It doesn't help. Don't give up, but don't fight."

It is a internal battle for all three but the pull is too hard to ignore.
"That it turns me on when I watch you kiss.  That it shouldn't, but does. That I don't want to be on the outside of you two, but I can't stay away."

With this trio there is something that just works. The intimacy is potent and beautiful and it is written in a way that it only felt right that they were all together.
"Have faith in the three of us. No one is here to hurt the other."

"...And it's hard to go against that expected image of right and wrong.  But at some point, you have to decide if pleasing society is worth your happiness."
4 Steamy Thumbs up!
thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up
Lauren

Bonds of Trust Review.  Buy Bonds of Trust (Wicked Play #1) on Amazon
Bonds of Need Review. Buy Bonds of Need (Wicked Play #2) on Amazon