Wednesday, August 31, 2016

BLOG TOUR AND REVIEW -- E.J. Shortall's PREPARED TO FALL

Title: Prepared To Fall
Series: Golden Oakes #2
Author: E.J. Shortall
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Published: August 16, 2016
LOST. ALONE. GUILTY.

Adam is stuck in a thankless job with a father he loathes, and his secret childhood love is marrying somebody else. In a desperate attempt to forget it all he used a friend in a night of drunken passion.

FREE-SPIRITED. DETERMINED. DRIVEN.

Golden Oakes’s golden girl, Cassie’s life has been a torment of impossible parental expectations, lies and secrets. The only constant has been her close friendship with the Oakes brothers, and her kickboxing coach turned boyfriend, Jay.

Now training for the fight of her life, Cassie has to trust in Jay more than ever. But when Jay’s demanding ways begin to spill beyond the ring, Adam discovers his feelings for the spritely kick-boxer might be stronger than he could ever have imagined. Putting the past behind him, he vows to be there to protect, support and comfort Cassie.

Falling in love had been the last thing on their minds, but with life taking them along the unpredictable cliff edges of life, will they be there to catch each other if they fall?

***TRIGGER WARNING***
This book discusses issues of emotional, physical and sexual abuse and may be a trigger for some.
Contains adult content, scenes of explicit sexual nature and language some may consider crude or offensive. It is intended for readers aged 18+

Book two in the Golden Oakes series, but can be read as a standalone.

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[Janet]

Amazon/Goodread's Rating:  5/5
In Patti's Imagination Rating:  10/10

Adam Ashworth and Cassie Burton are two characters we meet in book one of the Golden Oaks series.  These two had a connection, but with Adam in love with his best friend their relationship didn’t have a chance.  Adam continues working at a job, for his father, that he is not happy with, thanks to promises made when he was young and continues to carry his secret crush for the one that doesn’t belong to him.
Cassie is finally getting the chance at her dream of entering the world of kickboxing competition.  With her boyfriend Jay, who just so happens to also be her coach, she can see this finally happening regardless of what her mother thinks of how she is living her life.  Jay has been there when things with her family went downhill and destroyed her so when things started to change with Jay she wouldn’t face the truth. When Adam starts to see these changes, he realizes that his feeling are more than he originally thought, but what he really needs to do is protect her and get her to see the truth.  Falling in love is not a part of the plan.
This book took me on several unexpected twists and then when I thought I knew what was going to happen, the story went differently than predicted.  I love that element of the suspense in the story and not being able to guess what is going to happen.  It kept me wanting to read more even when I was unable to. 
Sure this is a  book that can be read as a stand alone, but I would recommend reading Prepared to Fight first to get more of the background with the characters.  The author does a great job of covering the interactions from the first book, but by reading the other book it will add to the depth of this story.  This book was even better because it was great catching up with Liv and Nate as well as Wes, who I hope will have his own story.   It really was great getting to know and understand Adam and Cassie. 
This is an emotional book and some of the subject matter can cause triggers for some, but the author does an excellent job in showing how even the strong fall.  The story is not rushed and is very realistic.  You feel the emotions of the characters and will be having conversations with them on their actions.  I found myself trying to yell at them both like they needed my "arm-chair-coaching. "  I am looking forward to reading more from this author who I hope, besides Wes, will give Caleb a book as well.  


Prepared to Fall Excerpt © E.J. Shortall 2016

Adam POV
“So, what does a Cassie Burton kick-boxing session consist of?” I sidled up next to her as she leant over a cabinet in the corner of the room fiddling with a stereo system.
She shot me a quick look and then returned her attention to the iPod in her hands. A heavy bass line with thumping drumbeat and a screaming vocalist suddenly belted out through hidden speakers. The music was angry and frenzied, no doubt setting the pace for a tough workout to help Cassie battle her inner demons.
“Usually, I’d be sparring, beating the crap out of someone.”
I reached over and adjusted the volume to something less ear-splitting. “How about we start off with something that won’t result in me needing surgery?”
Finally, the smile returned to her face as she laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re going to take the fun out of this for me? C’mon, Ad, don’t you want the full experience?”
Keeping a straight face, I stroked a gentle trail over her jaw, along the exposed flesh of her shoulder. “Yes please,” I murmured, my voice seductively dropping an octave.
Secretly elated by the way she seemed to lean unconsciously into my touch, I traced my fingers along her face again. She felt warm, her skin silky soft and inviting.
I suddenly wanted more, needed to know if her skin felt that smooth all over. Stepping closer, I swallowed deeply and trailed my fingertips down her neck and along her collarbone.
A heavy exhalation had me snapping my attention to Cassie’s face. She’d closed her eyes, her head tilted in a way that indicated pleasure. Did she feel what I felt?
I took a tentative step, edging closer until there was barely any space between our bodies. I could feel her warmth through my clothing, further tantalising my need to give more, and to take more. My body ignited into a furnace of lust and desire, heated from Cassie’s presence and the need to touch her.
Running the risk that I was stepping into creeper territory and could end up with a kick to the groin, I wrapped my free arm around her waist and tugged gently, pulling her against my chest. We’d been in this position before, several times, but this time it felt different; this time I held her because I was sure I’d stop breathing if I didn’t. Touching her didn’t seem like enough; I wanted to bury my face in her glossy hair and inhale the scent of her fruity shampoo. I needed to slide my lips across hers and taste what I knew would be her sweetness.
Slowly, I lowered my head and brushed my lips over hers. They were just as I’d imagined, soft, plump, and warm.
Sweet.
Tantalising.
I needed more.
Pulling her in closer, I pressed my lips against hers with more force, demanding they feel the intensity of my sudden desire to claim them.
I felt her gently shudder and with a breathy gasp, she whispered, “Adam... what are you doing?”
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E.J. lives in West London, England, with her partner, son and two cats. Yes, the cats are important. One provides a great source of comfort in those moments when all train of thought is lost and the words just won’t come. The other often halts the writing process with his incessant meowing. But they are her babies.

She has always enjoyed reading, but found it was mostly just a holiday extravagance. Then she discovered a certain worldwide best seller, and that was it, she was hooked.

Friends and family started telling her she should give writing a go and she persistently brushed off their ridiculous suggestions. Then one morning an idea for a story formed in her head. That idea became a paragraph, the paragraph became a chapter, and a chapter became the twenty-four you see in Silver Lining.

E.J. is on one amazing roller coaster at the moment, meeting new and wonderful people, discovering new music gems to integrate into her stories, and learning new skills. She is excited to see where this journey takes her.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2016

RELEASE AND REVIEW BLITZ -- Michelle Irwin's PHASE!!!

Phase (Phoebe Reede: The Untold Story) 

Following on from the Declan Reede: The Untold Story series, comes this standalone spin-off series following Phoebe, who is all grown up. 


TITLE:  Phase
SERIES: Phoebe Reede: The Untold Series
AUTHOR: Michelle Irwin
GENRE:  New Adult; Coming of Age; Romance
PUBLICATION DATE: August 30 2016


SYNOPSIS


Living in the shadow of a legend has its drawbacks.

Every aspect of Phoebe Reede’s life has been defined by her father. Caught halfway between being a teen and an adult, she yearns to break free from the weight of expectations surrounding the Reede name. 

Her desire for freedom sends her overseas on her first solo journey. There, she finds herself having an unexpected adventure with an unlikely person. 

How can she learn who she wants to be and what is nothing more than a phase?

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For a limited time it's only 99c or FREE to read in KU

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REVIEW

[JANET]

AMAZON/GOODREADS RATING:  5/5
IN PATTI'S IMAGINATION RATING: 10/10

Phoebe is not the little girl that we first fell in love with in Michelle Irwin’s series Declan Reede: The Untold Story and if you have not read Declan’s series this review may contain a spoiler or two as Phase is the start of a new series that has spun off of Declan.  
Phoebe is grown up, or as grown up as you can be at eighteen years old.  Most of her life she has lived in the shadow of her dad and around cars.  Wanting a chance to just be Phoebe and not the daughter of Declan Reede, she convinces her parents to allow her to travel the United States in an effort to find herself.  This journey turns out to be more than what she expected and was she able to find herself before it was time to return home.
Michelle Irwin has done it once again with the start of this series.  I love how part of the story we are still in Australia and yet other parts we are traveling in the United States.  The author has done her research on places that Phoebe visits and at times I felt like I was the one traveling right along with Phoebe.  Again we find that every detail has a reason in this book. I loved being able to catch up with the characters from the other series but meeting new characters such as Angel and Beau.
Angel is a trip and brings some great laughs and is a great friend to support Phoebe in her quest to find herself.  You can really feel the love between these two friends.  They are there for each other as well as partners in crime.  The fact that Angel will travel with Phoebe so that her parents will allow her to travel overseas speaks volumes to this strong bond they share as friends.
Beau is a mystery but doesn’t want to let go of what he finds.  I was back and forth on who Beau really was which added some great mystery to the story.  Beau is most definitely your Southern Boy that will have ya’ll swooning.   When we first are introduced to Beau, it is so unexpected and not at all what is expected.  I love how he finds ways to keep in touch with her on her journey.  But what will happen if he learns her secrets, will he still want to be around her?
Phoebe had to learn how to grow up being tough with being a female in a man’s world of race car driving hasn’t been easy even if her daddy is Declan Reede.  Letting down that tough exterior is not a simple task even when you meet someone you want to get to know better yet knowing it can’t lead to anything when she is only visiting.  Phase will take you on a non-stop ride that you will not be able to put down as you will be cheering for some events and ready to toss your kindle at others.  I can’t wait to see where the road takes us as we continue the next in the series as this one will leave us on a cliff needing more.  

TEASERS




 


EXCERPT 

AFTER I’D TURNED off to follow the route Beau had indicated, I found myself on a road that twisted and bent to the curves of the hill we were climbing. When I hit the corners, I couldn’t help myself, I leant into them and upped the throttle. Beau’s bodyweight was a little bit of an adjustment, but I could easily correct for it—especially when he seemed to understand the physics and leant into the corners with me.
We practically floated up the mountain, springing nimbly from one corner to the next with barely any time upright in between. I pushed the bike faster and faster, without ever letting myself forget that it was a second-hand beast, and I was still testing its boundaries. I may have been an adrenaline junkie, but I wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t do anything too reckless. The engine and suspension were in fine form though, if I did say so myself.
I’d slowed down considerably by the time we reached the top of the hill then pulled over to the side of the road and took my helmet off.
Beau followed suit and tugged his helmet off too.
“So where to?”
Beau grabbed both our helmets and twisted to secure them to the sissy bars. The movement caused his thighs to brush along my arse. Once he had the helmets secured, he leant around me to grab the handlebars. Normally, I would have lost my shit at someone else taking over control, but he was the one who knew where to go. Plus the feel of his chest pressed against my back, and his chin resting on my shoulder stole my breath. It may have been my imagination, but his arms seemed to squeeze a little tighter than necessary as he guided the bike around.
Before long, he’d brought us to a stop near a grassy area that overlooked the city of Sacramento.
For a moment, I rested my feet on the ground and just stared at the view, unwilling to get off the bike just yet. The lights stained the night sky with reds and whites. The moment was so magical—so surreal.
“Wow,” I murmured. “Spectacular.”
“Yeah, ya are.” Beau’s voice murmured near my ear.
My stomach clenched at his words, tightening into a ball that sent spikes of desire shooting downward. I wasn’t sure whether he intended me to hear them though. In fact, he’d uttered them so quietly that I doubted he had, so I chose to ignore them.
He cleared his throat and spoke a little louder as he climbed off the bike. “I gotta admit, I ain’t met many people can handle a bike like you. ’Specially with the extra weight; but you, darlin’, you were flawless.”
Climbing off the bike and following him toward the end of the car park, I blushed at his words. I’d heard similar things before, but they were usually followed by, “but I guess that’s to be expected, with who your father is,” as if my every achievement had been manufactured by him.
When I glanced back up at him, he was staring at me as if he didn’t believe I could be real. Our gazes locked, and time froze. It was like my mind had taken a snapshot of the moment and continued to play it long after reality had passed.
After a moment, we both looked away.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle Irwin has been many things in her life: a hobbit taking a precious item to a fiery mountain; a young child stepping through the back of a wardrobe into another land; the last human stranded not-quite-alone in space three million years in the future; a young girl willing to fight for the love of a vampire; and a time-travelling madman in a box. She achieved all of these feats and many more through her voracious reading habit. Eventually, so much reading had to have an effect and the cast of characters inside her mind took over and spilled out onto the page.

Michelle lives in sunny Queensland in the land down under with her surprisingly patient husband and ever-intriguing daughter, carving out precious moments of writing and reading time around her accounts-based day job. A lover of love and overcoming the odds, she primarily writes paranormal and fantasy romance.

AUTHOR LINKS


Monday, August 29, 2016

RELEASE AND REVIEW BLITZ -- Shari J. Ryan's SPIKED LEMONADE!

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Cover Design: MadHat Books
Release Date: August 29, 2016
 

Synopsis

I traded in my Navy uniform and short hair for tats and a scruffy beard to become a man on the run. Moving from town to town, taking comfort in hot cars and fast women was the only way I could outrun the nightmares. Then I met her… Looking like a Southern Belle in a small Texas town, all layered in pretty dresses and perfume, I call her beautiful. She calls me a perv. This beauty won’t admit I have something she wants (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), or that I’m the one she’s looking for, but I love that she has something I never knew I needed. I may be labeled as a jerk, but she’s going to fall in love with me, and I’m going to make her cuss and drink whisky instead of lemonade. Why? Because sometimes beauty comes with a dirty mouth and sometimes your lemonade needs to be spiked.    

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Review


[Janet]

Amazon/Goodreads rating:  5/5
In Patti's Imagination rating:  10/10


JAGS, as everyone calls retired Navy medic, has spent six years moving from town to town trying to outrun the nightmares from his years serving.  He no longer has his short hair but instead is covered in tattoos with a scruffy beard.  Stopping in the one town of Texas to help out a buddy with a situation he ends up staying longer than he planned.  This is where he meets Sasha.  
Sasha, the Southern Belle, has lived her life in a bubble in her small Texan town.   She can not stand the sailor talk that comes from JAGS or pretty much anything about him.  Sure her world has just been turned upside down and her life isn’t safe any longer.  Will JAGS be the one to be there for her on her way of learning sometimes that Southern lemonade needs to be spiked.  
This is the first book I have read by this author but it will not be my last.  JAGS right from the start had me wanting to know more.  The event that takes place in the prologue was tragic and I knew right from there that this was going to be a book I wasn’t going to be able to put down.  
As JAGS states at one point “After all, it isn’t the life around us that makes us who we are, it’s the life within us that forces us to keep living.”   
The emotions in the book are real and at times raw.  “I hate my life. I hate every morning that I wake up.  I hate every breath that I take.  I hate the seconds I accidentally look into a mirror and catch my horrid reflection.  I hate when people look at me for longer than necessary.”
Then you have the sexual tension and mishaps between JAGS and Sasha that brings some humor to the story.  Add in JAGS love for cars, or women as he refers to them, and there will be times that leave you with a silly smile.  I particularly loved when he took a job as a mechanic and is working on a car when his female boss comes in.  He may have some screws loose as she states that he agrees with “I do. And it’s a good thing I know how to use a screwdriver to make things tight and hard, don’t you think?”
This story is not your simple love story, there are several suspenseful moments as well as unexpected twists that bring the story into a different light.  There are struggles with trying to figure out who you are and what you want to do with life.  
“Does that include people who cover up their pain with a smile? Or people who say anything they’re thinking because it’s better than hiding the truth?   I know I’m brash and ‘rough around the edges’ as you put it, but I still have a heart.” JAGS
This books takes you on ups and downs, leaving you laughing as well as in tears.  There wasn’t a moment when I was able to fully figure everything out.  The supporting characters added to this roller coaster ride you travel through.  I do hope Greta gets her own book as I would love for her to have a happy ending.  
“Life...this thing we do every day where we wake up, take a few breaths, eat some food, sometimes get lucky, and then repeat.  It’s a ride.  You can hang out in the slow-as-a-slug lane, or you could merge on over to the fast-as-f**k lane and feel the wind in your face and make your heart pound out of your chest.  The choice is yours, but I think I’d rather show up at my grave with smoke lit up in my path” JAGS
   

Teaser

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Giveaway

Signed paperback of Spiked Lemonade
 
 
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About the Author

Shari J. Ryan is an Amazon Top 100 Bestselling author, a Barnes & Noble Top 10 Bestselling author, and an iBookstore #1 Bestselling author. She hails from Central Massachusetts where she lives with her husband and two lively little boys. Shari has always had an active imagination and enjoys losing herself in the fictional worlds she creates. When Shari isn’t writing, she can usually be found cleaning toys up off the floor.
 

Connect with Shari

Newsletter Signup: http://sharijryan.com/sign-up/
Facebook Author Page: http://bit.ly/1VSrO8t
Facebook Reader Group: http://bit.ly/1NzXSLp
Goodreads Author Page: http://bit.ly/1TwFt16
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/21fi4Vg
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Sunday, August 28, 2016

RELEASE BLITZ - Danielle Allen's AFTER THE ONE

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After The One, Season Finale
by: Danielle Allen 
Release Date: August 28, 2016
 
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Blurb

The insta-love.
The perfect couple.
The enchanted fairy tale.
The concept of ‘happily ever after’ on reality TV is beautiful, but it’s complete B.S.
I mean, I get the appeal.
The One is the most watched reality TV dating show because it sells the idea that two people “randomly” handpicked by producers will fall in love and ride off into the sunset. We are expected to believe that after having a group of women embarrass themselves for the affection of a man on national television, the bachelor and the chosen one fall in love and they live happily ever after.
Let’s be honest.
Shows like The One are really about fantasy romance and must-see entertainment—not happily ever afters. That’s why the creators and producers don’t show what happens after the exotic getaways, lavish lifestyles, and over-the-top proposals. Even though reality TV relationships never last, they want us to buy into the fairy tale.
Truth is… when the cameras stop rolling, the number one killer of reality TV couples is real life.
And life just got REAL.

Buy After The One

*FREE with Kindle Unlimited

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Find out how it all started with The One

 
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The cattiness.
The fights.
The shaming.
I don't generally watch reality television, but I definitely don't watch reality dating shows. Besides the fact that it's completely staged, it's a horrible depiction of people -- women especially.
Women are pitted against each other to compete for the affection of a man they "fall in love" with after a week or two.
I call B.S.
It is complete crap.

So when my best friend, Koko, was hired as a makeup artist o the set of the most popular reality dating show, The One, I teased her mercilessly.
She told me that if I didn't stop teasing her, she would get me back.
And she did...
Which is how I ended up as a contestant on The One.

Buy The One

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About The Author

 
Me I Voted
Danielle Allen is a lover of football, fashion, film and fiction. From karaoke nights to vacationing and everything in between, she enjoys making the most out of the life in which she’s been blessed by living authentically and intentionally. Danielle spends her days teaching college students and her nights writing. And ultimately, she lives her life like it's golden.

Danielle Allen is the author of the Back to Life Series (Back to Life, Back to Reality, Back to December*), Love Discovered in New York, Autumn & Summer, the Heartache Series (Heartache, Heartfelt, Heartless*), Work Song, The One, and After The One.

*spinoff from series, featuring different characters, coming Winter 2016/2017
 

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