Tuesday, September 30, 2014

ARC Review: Torture To Her Soul (Monster In His Eyes #2) by J.M. Darhower

If you have read Monster In His Eyes (which you need to read before reading Torture To Her Soul to fully understand the story) you know that Naz has a monster inside of him, one that has owned him for years, one that craved vengeance, needed retribution, and screamed for blood. The blood of those who took from him, and that blood he collects but at what price?

In the previous book we had Karissa’s POV, now we get to see Naz’s POV. We get to understand Naz and he is one complicated man. He is torn between the vengeance that he craves and the love of Karissa, who he knows hates him for his actions.

Naz’s knows that he should never have gotten involved with Karissa like he had, she was supposed to be part of his plan for retribution, part of the blood that he needed to shed, but he fell in love with her. He knows that she hates him, he deserves her hate but he can’t let her go. His very presence causes Karissa pain.

Is Naz a bad man, yes. Is he a good man, yes. Can you be a bad man and still be a good man? Yes you can and Naz proves it. While his actions and past may define who he is, he is also protective of Karissa and will do anything it takes to keep her from harm. His love for her is what makes him a good man at the same time it makes him a bad man as well. I know that may not make sense but, if you read both books in this series, it will. I would rather have a Naz at my back, knowing that while he should kill me he won’t because he loves me, than someone who may not ever physically hurt me but doesn’t love me either. Messed up thinking on my part? Yep I admit it, it is, but that still doesn’t change how I feel.

This book at times is slow, but that slow style is a journey that us readers need to take to get inside of Naz’s head and while we may not fully understand everything that Naz is, getting that insight into his soul makes a lot of his actions more forgivable.

I couldn’t wait for this book to be released, I had read Monster In His Eyes for the first time only a couple months ago and was anxious to see what would happen next and I was not disappointed. I think fans of the first book will love seeing Naz’s POV as much as I did.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Review: BECOMING CALDER by Mia Sheridan

Forbidden Love, Angst, Hope, and the deeper meaning of what drives the human spirit.
This book has a magical quality that draws parallels to Greek mythology, rich in allegory. I love my fun romance reads, but I LOVE when they have a little something extra. An undercurrent of significance. You have a heroine, Eden, who in her youth and naivete seeks out knowledge despite the risks and dangers, desperate to break free from her gilded cage. Calder, the hero, has his own story that draws from Greek Aquarius legend, that serves as the foundation for this book.

This story starts off in the BEST WAY. You get a glimpse of future events that paint this desperate situation, leaving you wondering how the character will get out of this mess. It needless to say, had me burning through the pages. I LOVE when movies or books do this. It hooks you as a reader assuming that you know some details of future events, just giving you enough of a hint, that creates this hunger for the story. It’s great story telling. And much like the beginning, the last chapter and the epilogue are PERFECTION. THIS is how you end a book that has a follow up book. It’s that come hither ending that will have you one clicking the next follow up book. SO JUST GO AHEAD AND CLEAR YOU WEEKEND PLANS, YOU’LL BE READING THESE BACK TO BACK. And lucky for us as readers, she’s releasing both BECOMING CALDER and FINDING EDEN on the same day. So no waiting, even though you totally would, you can just binge read to your little heart’s content.



Much like her other books, there is a sweetness to her stories and characters. This book doesn’t have a dark, gritty feel. Even though her characters go through hell and back, these are feel good books that won’t break you emotionally. Even more so with this book, the characters have spent most of their lives living a reclusive life on a commune. They have a naiveté about them, making them feel very childlike, even as young adults. That is a major part of the story. You could say, 'well if you don’t like the commune, just leave.' But as the book points out, one would have reservations, insecurities, and fears about going off into a world that you know nothing about. The author deals with this topic very well.

Okay, and the ANGST!! This is hands down the most INTENSE  of her stories. Because the story takes place in this very off the grid and foreign world, there is this dire sense of urgency and danger for these characters. Knowing that modern society’s rules don’t apply to this commune, creates this constant fear for these characters’ safety. The villain, has so much dimension to him. He’s scary, vivid, intense, and honestly I can’t tell if there is some hidden genius in there behind all of that crazy. I shouldn’t be surprised that there are so many multidimensional supporting characters in this story. This is Mia Sheridan’s trademark skill in her books. Her books are never JUST about the love interests. There are always other characters that strengthen and facilitate the story’s journey.

This is definitely a story that I haven’t read before. I don’t know that I would seek out a book that is in a cult setting. It isn’t something that I would, say, 'Oh, that sounds hot.' But here’s where Mia Sheridan’s books aren’t your typical contemporary romance. They have a fable-like quality, always having this great lesson and meaning in them. It makes the reading experience so much more worth it. You get that great Ah Ha moment that is engaging.



This book is well written with every detail covered and completed. You will be very happy to have every I dotted and every T crossed. Becoming Calder is one of those stories that opens the door to this magical world, vibrant in its lucidity, as you experience two star crossed lovers collide.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Beholden by Corinne Michales


Guilt. 
Obligation. 
Responsibility.

Jackson Cole is consumed with all three. After another devastating loss, Jackson forced himself to protect the woman he loves the only way he knew how—by walking away.

Fear. 
Trust. 
Conviction.

Catherine Pope took a chance and let love in, only to once again have it ripped away from her. When tragedy strikes, Catherine is unwilling to let fate take the reins. She rushes to Jackson’s side ready to fight for him.

Do Jackson’s loyalties lie with his past or his future? Will they be beholden to their fears or will they both fight against their demons and finally find the love they both long for?






 Bio: Corinne is an emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun loving mom of two beautiful children. She’s happily married to the man of her dreams and is a former Navy wife. After spending months away from her husband while he was deployed, reading and writing was her escape from the loneliness.
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Review: Worth the Fall by Claudia Connor

Worth the Fall is a poignant, heartfelt read. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every page of this book.

Matt and Abby meet under unusual circumstances. The pairing is an unlikely one, and I have to say that I loved it! It was new and original, something that I don’t recall reading. Abby is a strong heroine and Matt is strong by nature, but his temporary leave from the Navy has him questioning many things in his life. They balance each other out well, and the chemistry and connection is there and it cannot be ignored. Each page was beautifully written and held my interest until the end.

The only reason I held back on giving it five stars because of something Abby does near the end. To me, it didn’t fit her character and it really rubbed me the wrong way. I understand why she would be so upset, but I just can’t accept her behavior because Matt was doing what he was supposed to. In that moment, I truly did not like Abby’s character at all.

I’m surprised with this read. I can’t remember there being a time where I loved every character—including the children. Usually baby talk aggravates me and I skim over it, but somehow it just worked in this novel. While at times I did feel like there were too many scenes with the kids, Abby does have four young children so it would make sense for them to be present most of the time. I guess I really can't complain about that.

Claudia Connor’s debut book is a refreshing, worthy read. I look forward to more of her titles in the future.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Cover Reveal: Elijah by Lexi Buchanan


Elijah
Elijah returns home to help his dad renovate the Victorian his grandmother left to them. The finished portion of the old house is being rented out to a newcomer to their small town of Elizabeth Cove. No one in his town is aware of Elijah’s secret, especially his mom. A quick errand to the property leaves Elijah with a stunning scene he can’t get out of his head and the fear that his secret will be discovered.

At twenty-seven, Max, has had enough of city living and being around people who think they can dictate how he lives. After coming out to his family and colleagues, trouble at work and familial heartbreak ensue. He relocates to Elizabeth Cove in search of healing, not realizing his life is about to change in ways he never expected.

elijah full sleeve FINAL copy
Model - Jeff
CoverArtist - Amy Queau

Excerpt

UN-EDITED AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE (ROUGH DRAFT)
Eight-thirty in the morning was too early to be up and out of bed on a Saturday, but Elijah’s mom had other ideas. The tenant was due to arrive today so he had to be up and out of bed to take the welcome box of grocery she’d purchased for him—Max Riorden—up to the house for his arrival. It sucked, but he guessed he could use the pool while he was there. Elijah loved the fact that his father had agreed to put in the deep pool at the back of the house. He used it all the time and guessed he’d have to get used to sharing it with the guy who was moving in that day.

If he hadn’t had his head up his ass these past couple of weeks he would have known more about the guy who had gotten his father to agree to a twelve-month lease. The guy would eventually become his neighbor in about four months time when his own side of the house should be finished.

Originally, they had planned to renovate the house and sell it, but after more thought he had managed to talk his father out of it and into splitting it in two—half for him and half as a rental to get income to support the upkeep on the property. As long as more of their money wasn’t being sunk into the property then his father wasn’t worried.
Elijah just wished he’d put his foot down and said his side of the house would be the first to be finished, but his dad had pleaded a good case about them getting the income in, which would give them more of a leeway in getting his part of the house finished. He was twenty-four and had been living under his parent’s roof since he’d finished at college because he had wanted to come home.

He’d loved the freedom of college but had missed the quiet of Elizabeth Cove. The decision to head home after college hadn’t been all that hard to make because there was nothing in the city to keep him there. At one time he’d thought there might be, but he was proven wrong when he caught Chris with his jeans around his ankles being sucked off by someone other than him. Since then he’d kept to himself and hadn’t gotten involved with anyone else. When he was feeling horny he would make the hours journey to the largest town near to Elizabeth Cove and find a bar to hang out in. Within ten minutes he would always have a guy wanting in his jeans.

The only problem he had to moving back home was his mom constantly inviting the young women in town to dinner in hope that he would follow through and ask them out. Both his parents had no clue he was gay. That he’d been gay since well before he left for college. He’d covered his sexual preference by dating the girls in his senior year at high school, but only for show. He had no real interest in them because they had the wrong equipment. A few times he wondered whether or not his mom knew or at least suspected that he was gay. But with how social she’d been lately he wasn’t all that sure.
One day soon he was going to have to come clean because at his age he shouldn’t have to hide from his parents. In fact, any more women shoved in his face he might explode. He also wanted to make his home in Elizabeth Cove and was worried how the town’s people would take his sexual preference. It wasn’t anyone’s business but his own and after experiencing prejudice in college he wasn’t in any rush to experience that again especially by the people he’d grown up around.

With a heavy sigh he clomped downstairs and walked into the kitchen with his tee shirt in hand only to be pulled up short when Sarah from next-door let out a heavy sigh with her eyes fixed on his chest.

“Elijah, get your shirt.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned knowing how much the ‘ma’am’ would get his mom’s back up but that she was too polite to say anything in front of Sarah. “Mornin’ Sarah. How’s things?” He might as well be polite to the girl if nothing else.

“Good,” she squeaked before standing up. The chair she had been sitting on wobbled back and forth until Elijah caught hold of it with his right hand as he used his left to pull his tee shirt down his torso. Sarah was looking anywhere but at him and for some reason Elijah knew he was being a dick but couldn’t wipe the grin from his face at her embarrassment because he’d spoken to her. “I need to get back. Bye Louise.” She dashed to the door.

“Bye Sarah,” Elijah drawled as Sarah shut the door behind herself.
He started to laugh.

“That was rude.”

“What was?” He asked with a look of innocence on his face.

His mom just rolled her eyes. “Never mind now. Get over to the house with this box. Put it all into the refrigerator and leave the note somewhere where he won’t miss it when he arrives.”

He could do that. He was also looking forward to a dip in the pool. There was nothing like diving into the pool without a stitch of clothing on and feeling the water caress his skin as he swam length after length.

“Will you be back for breakfast?” his mom asked breaking through his dream.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m going to swim before I come back and work some more.”
Elijah hauled the box into his hands and with his mom holding the door open he carted it out to his truck and dumped it into the back before he glanced back to the door and saw his mom watching him. He ran back to her and gave her a hug with a kiss to the top of her head. “I have my cell on me if you need me for anything. Okay?”

“Okay, honey. Look after yourself in that pool.”

With a last squeeze he pulled away and ran back to his truck. “I’ll be fine.”

Their house wasn’t too far away from his new home but with the box of food it would have been awkward to carry it. It was also too large to attach to his bike, which was his preferred method of travel in the town so his truck would have to.

It was only minutes before he found himself pulling up at the house beside the truck that was already parked on the drive.

Has the guy, Max arrived early?

He couldn’t see any sign of anyone, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone inside. Leaving the food in the back of the truck he climbed out and slowly made his way around to the gate leading to the back of the property to see if there was any sign of anyone out there before he knocked on the door. He didn’t feel like he could use his key now that the guy had obviously arrived.

As he stepped through the gate he could hear the gentle lap of water, which he knew meant the guy was already in the pool. Elijah treaded carefully towards the back and froze when he watched a guy with water sluicing from his body climb from the pool naked. He was around the same height as he was at 6ft3in and had a shaved head, or near enough. He was lean and muscular with broad shoulders and a chest that glistened in the sun. Elijah’s eyes traveled further south and he found his eyes widening as the guys cock lengthened before his eyes. He quickly glanced up to make sure he hadn’t been caught watching and he hadn’t. So that was Max. It had to be.

Max wrapped his hand around his erection before he pulled back to his balls. To Elijah’s shock he felt his own dick swell with need as he watched. Not even in college did he ever feel instance lust like he was now. Max was oblivious to Elijah’s presence and he wanted it to stay that way. He wanted to watch him come. He wanted to watch as his release left his body.

Elijah bit down on his lip to stop himself from groaning out loud. His dick was now solid and leaking with his arousal in his jeans as he continued to spy on Max as he jerked off. But it was so good he couldn’t look away. He couldn’t even leave the guy to his own privacy.

As Max looked to be getting close to his release, Elijah started to rub his aching cock through his jeans and felt his own arousal about to reach breaking point. Desperate for more, he ripped his jeans open and wrapped his own fist around his dick and started pumping. His eyes stayed reverted on Max’s own hand and dick. Max threw his head back and started to shoot white cum out from the tip of his dick, which sent Elijah careening over the edge. He clamped his mouth together to keep his lust quiet as he came all over his hand and the fence opposite.

Fuck!

That was not supposed to happen. He collapsed back against the house and with his heart about to beat out of his chest he yanked his jeans back up and shoved his junk away before he was caught.

What the hell was wrong with him? He had never done anything like that before and to have such a reaction to the guy he was going to have, as a neighbor was not going to happen. Regardless of whether or not he was thinking about telling his parents he preferred guys, it could not happen with Max. It was far to close to home.

With a shake to his head to get the remnants of lust out, he quickly made his way back to his truck on unsteady legs and grabbed a cloth to wipe his release from his hand before tossing it to the bed of his truck.

Elijah took a minute to get back together, and then grabbed the box of groceries from out the back. He still couldn’t get his head around what he’d just done. Anyone could have caught him with his jeans around his thighs and his cock in hand. What the hell was wrong with him?

He knew one thing for sure and that was as soon as he dropped the groceries off, he was out of there.

About the Author

Lexi was born in Bolton, Lancashire within the United Kingdom, where she lived, and worked at the University of Bolton. In 2010, she moved to Ireland with her husband, four kids and pack of animals.

She's a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of Devour, and International Bestselling Author of Seduce and Sizzle.
Her time is spent writing when she can get away from Facebook, and chasing after the kids and animals.

One of her all time ambitions is to visit Mount Everest base camp in the Himalayas.

Monday, September 15, 2014

ARC Review: Melancholy by Bella Jewel

Santana’s past has molded her into who she is today.  She at one time, did what she had to do to survive, even if that meant allowing herself down a path of destruction, one that brought her to her savior.  Maddox came and saved Santana, took her in, protected her.  He helped to fix the destruction her previous life had caused, but what happens when she finds out the truth about the one thing that almost destroyed her for good?

Santana at times was very stubborn and wouldn’t listen even when it meant her safety was on the line.  She survived some things that most people her age would never have been able to.  This has made her into who she is today.  Can she drive you insane with her stubborn attitude and at times overly sarcastic comments?  She sure can, but that is her way to not just hide her feelings but as a way to protect herself as well.

Maddox, oh boy, Maddox at times can make you want to just shake him and be like why in the hell would you ever do that you idiot!  He has always cared for Santana, he never looked at her as a daughter even when he was taking care of her.  He has wanted her for a long time, but like most men, he didn’t think he was good enough when in reality he was perfect for her. 

When you find out that something that could destroy everything that you were lead to believe, holy shit I wasn’t sure how things were going to go.  I was on the edge of my seat wondering what the outcome would be and praying that the worst case scenario didn’t play out.  At one point I even told my husband to hush so I could find out what was going to happen when he tried to talk to me.

Melancholy is the second book in the Jokers’ Wrath MC series, and in my opinion was one hundred times better than Precarious was.  I felt more of a connection with Santana and Maddox’s story, maybe it is because we saw bits and pieces in the previous book that the foundation was already laid out for us. 


Bella Jewel is one of my automatic buys, while I may not always love a certain book, I have liked them all.  If you weren’t sure if you wanted to continue on with this series because you weren’t a huge fan of the first book, give Melancholy a chance because for me it blows Precarious away and left me wanting more.


Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Release Day Blitz & Giveaway: Rock Addiction (Rock Kiss, Book 1) by Nalini Singh




A bad boy wrapped in a sexy, muscled, grown-up package might be worth a little risk…

Molly Webster has always followed the rules. After an ugly scandal tore apart her childhood and made her the focus of the media’s harsh spotlight, she vowed to live an ordinary life. No fame. No impropriety. No pain. Then she meets Zachary Fox, a tattooed bad boy rocker with a voice like whiskey and sin, and a touch that could become an addiction.

A one-night stand with the hottest rock star on the planet, that’s all it was meant to be…

Fox promises scorching heat and dangerous pleasure, coaxing Molly to extend their one-night stand into a one-month fling. After that, he’ll be gone forever, his life never again intersecting with her own. Sex and sin and sensual indulgence, all with an expiration date. No ties, no regrets. Too late, Molly realizes it isn’t only her body that’s become addicted to Fox, but her heart…


Amazon: http://amzn.to/1lRqHow



Meet the Author
NEW YORK TIMES AND USA Today bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series Nalini Singh usually writes about hot shapeshifters and dangerous angels. This time around, she decided to write about a hot and wickedly tempting rock star. If you’re seeing a theme here, you’re not wrong.

Nalini lives and works in beautiful New Zealand, and is passionate about writing. If you’d like to explore her other books, you can find lots of excerpts on her website. Slave to Sensation is the first book in the Psy-Changeling series, while Angels’ Blood is the first book in the Guild Hunter series. Once Rock Addiction is out, swing by the site to check out the special behind-the-scenes page, complete with photos of many of the locations used in the book.

STALK HER:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads


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