Monday 27 June 2016

Broken Love by Jillian Dodd ~ #excerpt #bookreview #trailer

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Cade & Palmer’s story is FINALLY here!
NOW LIVE!


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After years of crushing and many failed seduction attempts, Palmer Montlake had finally scored the sexy Cade Crawford. Both a little drunk when they got back to her place, they were frantic with need, their desire intense.
But as the night progressed, the hot-mess hookup morphed to sweet lovemaking.
The kind neither had ever experienced.

But they were destined for heartbreak.
She was his best friend’s little sister.
He was her talent agent.
And they were dating in secret.
When they got into a wicked fight and broke up, all hell broke loose.
The kind neither have recovered from.

Six years later, they still hate each other.
But the universe seems to keep throwing them together.
When they catch the bouquet and garter at a mutual friend’s wedding, sparks fly between them — their chemistry undeniable.

Will they get a second chance? Or will they be left with a broken love?


BROKEN LOVE is a STANDALONE, CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE NOVEL following Cade and Palmer from the USA Today Bestseller, Vegas Love.

The Love Series is a series of STANDALONE novels featuring a different Crawford sibling. They can be read by themselves. However if you do with to read them all, they are best enjoyed in order.









We clink our glasses together then down the shots. The groomsman passes me a lime wedge, but I shake my head, causing him to pull me aside.
“My name’s Jared,” he says with a cocky smirk.
“I thought this was supposed to be a no-names night?” I reply, giving him shit, even though I have no interest in him.
“It is. But for you, I’ll make an exception. You need to know what name to say when I make you scream later.”
Cade comes up from behind Jared, clamping his big hand down on Jared’s skinny shoulder.
Jared glances back at Cade. They share some kind of a look that causes Jared to immediately ditch me. He saunters over to Tory and throws his arm around her, which earns him a hint of a smile from Cade.
“So does this mean you’re not married?” Tory asks Jared.
“Nope, I’m single as a Pringle,” he replies.
I expect Cade to say something to me, but instead he turns away.
I’m not sure what just happened, but I think it was some guy-code thing.
And it pisses me off.
Tory sees the rage on my face, takes my hand, and drags me off to the bathroom.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did you see that!?” I rant, as we step inside the ladies’ room, finding a long line. “Cade cock blocked me! Not that I wanted that guy’s cock, because you already called dibs on it, but Cade didn’t know that!”
“Since you don’t have a cock,” she replies. “I think it’s called blocking the box.”
“Oh, no,” the girl in front of us says. “It’s called twat blocking.”
“I thought it was boxed,” another woman says.
“Baseball players call cock blocking stealing signs.”
A voice from inside one of the stalls yells out, “It’s called clam jamming.”
Pretty soon everyone in the bathroom is giving us their opinions.
“Twat swatting or twat stopping.”
“Beaver dammed.”
“Va-jected!”
I shake my head at Tory. “Whatever. It really shouldn’t matter what part you have. I got cock blocked because I will be having no cock tonight.”
“There’s still time,” Tory says. “You can have the groomsman. You need to get laid worse than I do, honey. It’s been far too long.”
“But why would he cock block me and then walk away?!”
As soon as the words tumble out of my mouth, Cade’s mother steps out of one of the stalls.
I put my head down, hoping she won’t notice me and, thankfully, she squeezes past us without saying a word.
“Holy buckets,” Tory says when the door closes behind her. “Wasn’t that his mother?”
“Uh, yeah. You can kill me now.”


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Want to meet the other brother?
Vegas Love

Author Information

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Jillian Dodd grew up on a farm in Nebraska, where she developed a love for Midwestern boys and Nebraska football. She has drank from a keg in a cornfield, attended the University of Nebraska, got to pass her candle, and did have a boy ask her to marry him in a bar. She met her own prince in college, and they have two amazing children, a Maltese named Sugar Bear, and two Labrador puppies named Camber Lacy and Cali Lucy. She is the author of the That Boy Trilogy and The Keatyn Chronicles Series.





https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29617146-broken-love



Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Author and TRSOR
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Part of a series and can be a Standalone


My Broken Love Review . . .

Since the first moment I started to read That Boy I knew I was going to adore Jillian Dodd and her stories, and I wasn't wrong.  With the Keatyn Chronicles we got the combo of suspense and romance here in the Love series we get good old fashioned sweet romance.

This is technically book 2 within this series but can be read as a standalone.  In Broken Love, the story revolves around Cade Crawford and Palmer Montlake.  Cade and Palmer were once in love and ready to start their next chapter together.  Then after one large fight they break up but never forget about each other.

For years to each other they were both the one who got away, but they were also too stubborn to apologize.  Plus there was more involved then just the two of them with this breakup.  However, fate has different plans and keeps bringing these two back together until they finally give in.

They never stopped loving each other but can you forgive the past?  For me I couldn't believe they broke up with only one real fight and no communication after that.   Now back together they both have to forgive and move on or they will end up at the same place they did last time.

Once they gave in to one another it was still sweet but at times it also was a bit too schmaltzy for me.  Thankfully with Tori and Cade's family we got some comic relief.

"Since you don't have a cock," she replies.  "I think it's called blocking the box."

This story wasn't heavy nor too angsty, which is exactly what we need sometimes when it comes to contemporary romance.  It was sweet and cute and grabs you enough that you want to find out more from the Crawford's and Pike.  Plus we get an appearance from Keatyn and Aiden which is another great bonus.

Will I read more from this series? Yes.  Will I run out and grab it?  Yes but not in a rush. However, when I'm in the mood for something sweet and light then this series will definitely fit the bill.

3 Sweet but schmaltzy thumbs up!

thumbs upthumbs upthumbs up

Lauren








Friday 24 June 2016

Full Share by Eliza Freed Blog Tour ~ #giveaway #bookreview


 

Full Share
Eliza Freed
(Shore House, #1)
Publication date: June 21st 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult

Nora Hargrove’s post-grad life includes a horrific entry-level job, a cave of an apartment, and a strict avoidance of all interpersonal relationships. She knows only one thing about herself—she wants to be left alone.

Avoiding her mother’s forced family time, she seeks solitude on her own terms. In a poorly ventilated, overcrowded Dewey Beach rental, she discovers there’s no place to hide. Not from yourself, not from your life, and not from love. This is the story of Nora Hargrove’s full share.

I learned the healing power of a good bloody Mary and a dip in the Atlantic. I kayaked in the dead of night and witnessed the only shooting star I’ve ever seen. I fell in love on a bed made of pallets. I lived.
Life is deep. Dive in.



Author Bio:

Eliza Freed graduated from Rutgers University and returned to her hometown in rural South Jersey. Her mother encouraged her to take some time and find herself. After three months of searching, she began to bounce checks and her neighbors began to talk; her mother told her to find a job.

She settled into Corporate America, learning systems and practices and the bureaucracy that slows them. Eliza quickly discovered her creativity and gift for story telling as a corporate trainer and spent years perfecting her presentation skills and studying diversity. It’s during this time she became an avid observer of the characters we meet and the heartaches we endure. Her years of study have taught her laughter is the key to survival, even when it’s completely inappropriate.

She currently lives in New Jersey with her family and a misbehaving beagle named Odin. An avid swimmer, if Eliza is not with her family and friends, she’d rather be underwater. While she enjoys many genres, she has always been a sucker for a love story…the more screwed up the better.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29837563-full-share


Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Author and Xpresso Book Tours
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Standalone


My Full Share Review . . .

It has been quite awhile since a book gave me a visceral reaction but Full Share did just that.  It left me sad, devastated, yet hopeful and happy.
"You're different, Nora."
"Does that mean fucked up?"
"We're all fucked up. That wouldn't make you different."
Nora Hargrove is lost.  After walking upon a moment that changes her life.  She chooses to just survive and not truly live.  Each moment she goes through the motion of living but doesn't truly live.  To some the moment that shapes her should be irrelevant but to her it shakes her full foundation because she was too young to truly process the complexity of the situation.
"Life is deep, Nora.  Dive in."
After university she got partly adopted by an eclectic group of friends whom they all end up sharing a beach house for the summer.  Some friends are old and others are new to Nora.  There are full shares and half shares.  A full share is when you have one roommate for the full summer and where the half shares have multiple people in their room at different times. 
"They're the wealthy and the poor, the lost and the enlightened, and I love every one of them."
As Nora starts her adventure in Dewey she ends up rooming with Jack Randall whom immediately sparks something in Nora.  At first Nora keeps to herself but little bit by little bit the group starts to bring Nora back to life.  From Tank and his exuberance for life to Heather and her hatred for the world and everyone in between.
"Don't pretend to know me when you barely know yourself."
While Nora is coming back to life she helps to coax a dog Rufus back to the living as well.  I loved the parallel of Rufus and Nora and their journey back to the living.
 "That beach house is making you crazy.  It's changing you."
Every character you either loved or hated but each gave you an emotional reaction of some sort.  At times I was on the verge of possibly not liking Nora but then something would happen that again you could relate to her when you were younger or at least understand her choices.
"How did you know I was alone?"
"Because you're always alone.  Except when you were with him."
 So many highs and lows for this group of friends, but each trial and tribulation helps define each character in some way.
"There's really only one way to look at things.  If you look at them the other way,  you'll make yourself miserable."


 Besides Nora, I fell for both Tank and Jack in each of their own special ways.  Those two just stood out for me within this group and I was rooting for Tank to find his peace and for Jack to finally get the girl.
 "You can't control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you move forward."
 But the more I fell for these two the more trouble was arising and the more my heart was on the verge of heartbreak.  And once that break was complete I was gutted, but as Eliza Freed does sometimes,  she guts you but for the greater good in the big picture.
"Don't break me."
"I won't, Nora Hargrove."
Even though this heartbreak was the breaking point for Nora to move forward or stay in the past, it still killed me and I wish it didn't have to happen but I completely understood it with a heavy heart.
 . . . they wouldn't let me hide here no matter how defiantly I tried.  They were living, and they were determined to take me with them. . . .

 With evolution, it helps to heal the past or at least try and understand it.  With Nora she had to start to be awakened before she could face that challenge, but as she learned it wasn't as big as she made it out to be.
"Nora, you've got to be willing to write your own story,"
But when you are a teenager we don't see things logically and Nora protected herself the only way she knew how.
"And you've got to be brave enough to let someone else hear it."
Now as she grew with the summer we got to see her truly live and blossom they way she was meant to be.
"This summer I learned to fly . . . and to live  . . . and to exist among the stars. . . ."
Each new challenge altered all of them in some way but especially Nora.  
. . . For fifteen weeks, I'd been trapped in a too-small cottage with housemates who were larger than life.  It saved me.
Even though Nora is cold and guarded she's also relatable because she represents a piece of a lot of us that doesn't truly live to our potential and get by by just surviving.  In Full Share,  Nora learns to live and with that living comes so much more.
"So please join me and raise your glasses to the summer, to my summer as a full share."
I first found Eliza Freed with the Lost Series and this is where she captured my heart for her writing and her stories.  When I got the opportunity to read this story I jumped at the opportunity hoping that it would create some of the similar feelings I experienced with the Lost Souls series and that it did and more.  I loved the story and the emotional upheaval that came with it.  I can't wait to read more from this author and this series. 

4.5 Worth the upheaval thumbs up!

thumbs upthumbs upthumbs upthumbs up  . 5

Lauren