SPOTLIGHT TOUR & GIVEAWAY: Fracture by Amanda K. Byrne

Fracture by Amanda K. Byrne 

Publication date: April 21st 2015

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Every nightmare has an end.

There’s no way Nora can ignore the beating. Same heavy boots. Same curses, same pained groans. But that was two years ago, and this a different man, a different part of war-ravaged Sarajevo. This is her second chance. She has to try.

And then she’s stuck with him, nursing him, putting up with him. Declan’s an ass. He’s rude and tactless. He’s arrogant. Dismissive.

Charming. Intense. Caring when she needs it most – and least expects it. He tears away the numbing fog that’s been her constant companion and offers her a way out and a way home.

And it damn near destroys her.

Nora’s survived two years in a war zone. Can Declan show her how to live?

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Excerpt

It starts to rain as I jog through the streets, circling and detouring to pick up my bag of food. Rivulets snake under my coat collar, my hair plastering itself to my head. My jeans get in on the action as well, sticking to my legs. I drip all over the floor as I climb the stairs to my flat. Hopefully the bread stayed dry. Well, dryish. 

Declan hasn’t moved from his spot on the couch, his eyes glued to the monitor of his laptop. He grunts in response to my hello, and I leave the food in the kitchen. I squish past him to the bedroom, wincing at the trail of wet behind me. 

Peeling off my clothes is a lot of fun, the fabrics heavy and adhering to my skin in places. I drop them on the bathroom floor and retrieve a towel. My teeth are starting to chatter as I pull on a clean pair of panties. “Hey, Declan? Could you put on the tea kettle?” 

His answer is unintelligible. I toss the towel through the open bathroom door and dig through the clothes I piled into the closet in an attempt to straighten up the tiny room. I have a pair of fleece pants. I swear I do. 

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. I shut the door, didn’t I? Dammit, where are those pants? 

“What did you say? I didn’t hear-” I whirl around, sweatshirt clutched to my chest. “Oops. Sorry.” The wide, sly smile doesn’t make him look the least bit sorry. 

“Out. I asked you to put the kettle on. I’m freezing and I want tea. Out.” Turning my back, I tug the sweatshirt over my head and resume hunting for the pants. A strangled noise behind me must be my imagination. As is the flash of heat in Declan’s eyes when I glance over my shoulder. “What?” 

No one should be able to move that fast with a walking boot on. I’m braced against the wall with my legs wrapped around his waist before I can blink, desire shadowing his face. “Want me to warm you up?” he murmurs. 

“No.” Dammit, I was going for strong. Not breathy with need. 

“Too bad.” He takes my mouth and a searing heat zips through me like a wildfire. Yes. I need this. Need him, need his lips and tongue and oh god his tongue, his fingers clamped on my hips. Moaning when he drags his mouth away, I tip my head back to give him better access to my neck, biting my lip when his tongue completes a particularly wicked maneuver at the fragile spot under my ear. 

Lacing my fingers through his hair, I plunder his mouth as he does mine, wanting him to be as crazy with this need as I am. It swirls between us, a whirlpool threatening to drag us down, and his hand slips under my sweatshirt and finds my breast. 

I want to know what his skin feels like against my mouth. I want to taste every inch of him, and then go back and do it again. I want him under me, over me, inside me, making me forget, making me live. 

The heat of his hand and his mouth is gone as quickly as it came on. I stare at him, confused, dazed with lust. He stopped. Why did he stop? Especially when I can tell how ready he is? 

He slides his hands down my thighs and unwinds me from his waist, dropping me on my feet. “Warm enough now?” 

And he limps out of the room, cast thunking with every step.

AUTHOR BIO:

When she’s not plotting ways to sneak her latest shoe purchase past her partner, Amanda writes sexy, snarky romance and urban fantasy. She likes her heroines smart and unafraid to make mistakes, and her heroes strong enough to take them on.

If she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking hot chocolate, and trying not to destroy her house with her newest DIY project. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and no, it really doesn’t rain that much.

Author links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

*** GIVEAWAY *** 

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 $50 gift card to book retailer of your choice (Ends May 7th)

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xoxo,

Purple

Review: BLOOD & ROSES (Shadow Stalkers, #3) by Sylvia Day

Summary:

When insurance investigator Anastasia Miller sets out to retrieve the rose-hued pink diamonds stolen in a recent heist, she finds herself working alongside former flame, deputy U.S. Marshal Jake Monroe—the man she loved enough to leave behind.
 

 
Buy links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks | iBooks | Kobo 

Connect with the author:

Website | Facebook |  Twitter | Goodreads

My review:

3 stars.

Blood and Roses is supposedly book three in this series, but it really is a standalone. All of these stories are, actually. And while the characters from the first two appear in both of them, everything in Blood and Roses is completely new. Well, there is one familiar character being mentioned several times: Gideon Cross, you might remember him. ;) He never made an actual appearance, unfortunately, but did play a part in the plot off the pages. A valuable crown was stolen, and a guard shot in the robbery of a jewelry store that's Cross Industries property, and Anastasia Miller was called to investigate. So it happened what she found made her believe her family was involved, which brought her back to her hometown, and to her first and only love, Jake Monroe.

I'm all for second chances, and I've said in my review of Taking the Heat how much I love that type of romance novels, but with Anastasia and Jake it's ten years that they were pining after each other, when, of course, they could have made it work. It's too much even for me. I suppose they were lucky that heist happened even if it did put their families in danger.

I don't have much more to say about this story. It's super short, so everything happened super quickly: Ana & Jake falling into each other's arms, getting their family members out of life threatening situation, finding the diamonds... all of it, really. But since I was looking for something like this: short, hot, that doesn't cause anxiety, or tears, I was mostly fine with it. By now I pretty much know what I'll find in any story penned by Sylvia Day, and sometimes that's a good thing, I guess...

 

Until next time, happy reading!

XOXO

 

REVIEW: Fuel the Fire (Calloway Sisters #3) by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Buy links:

Amazon / Kobo / Book Depository

Authors' links:

Facebook / Twitter / Website

Genre:

New Adult / Contemporary / Romance 

*BOOK SUMMARY*

Protect your family. At all costs.

It’d take the impossible to hurt Connor Cobalt, even for a moment.

Protect your family. At all costs. 

At twenty-six, his narcissistic tendencies have made room for the people he loves.

Protect your family. At all costs.

And he loves Rose. But when his love is threatened, when his greatest dreams with her are compromised — what is the cost then? 

Protect your family. At all costs.

Love will guide his choices. 

For the first time in his life. 

**AUTHORS' NOTE** 

It's possible to only read the Calloway Sisters spin-off series without reading the Addicted series, but you MUST read Hothouse Flower (Calloway Sisters #2) before reading Fuel the Fire (Calloway Sisters #3). 

It's highly recommended to read the books in the recommended reading order, which is in tangent with the Addicted series. If you choose not to read Addicted After All before Fuel the Fire, there will be a time jump.

Fuel the Fire picks up in the Addicted Timeline where Addicted After All ended. FTF will not retell past events from Addicted After All in Rose & Connor's POV. All new material. 

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MY RATING:

*MY REVIEW*

“I need you to keep looking at me like you’re going to burn a hole through my heart, and I need you to tell me that you love the real me. Every day, I need you, Rose.”

Warning: Fangirling ahead! 

Ah, these books! ♥ These books, people, have restored my faith in New Adult genre! 

“We never touched, but I made love to your mind.”

Let me tell you something. Upon starting FTF, I had enormous expectations, which was natural considering that Addicted series is my favorite NA series and Coballoway is my favorite couple. Rose is one my favorite female characters in general and Connor is my dream man. Taking all of that into consideration, this book did not fail to deliver. At all. 

Once again, Krista & Becca Ritchie have amazed me with their talent and I stand by my previous statement – fan for life! 

She fuels the fire in my soul, the embers slowly dying, and she tries feverishly to awaken me. I open my mouth to say the truth—what happened…the words stick to the back of my throat. I place my hands on hers, the ones clutching my shirt, as though she’s seconds from throttling me to her plane of existence—where the world is painted vibrantly in sadness, in rage and despair. I’m the one who lives in muted tones of impassivity and emptiness, needing other people to color my landscape for me.

Now, as for the plot – have no fear, no spoilers. I don’t want to reveal anything, but if you’ve read an Addicted novel before, you can expect a lot of funny bantering, sexy times, emotional moments, and plenty more. And if you haven’t, well what are you waiting for?

People can change. People can grow. People can realize that the idea of something is more frightening than the reality.

Both Connor and Rose’s characters are given more depth. I feel like only when we’re reading from their POVs, we really get to know them, I can say that now we completely understand them. In Kiss the Sky we saw them falling in love, but now we see their love grow even stronger. They are the perfect match and most definitely among my favorite literary couples of all time (right along with Catherine and Heathcliff from WH, and Tatiana and Alexander from TBH). 

He has shaped my life, shaped me, so entirely, and I think about him in every action, in every extraordinary or commonplace thought. I wonder what he would do or what he would say. I’m independent, self-sufficient, and singular—I’m all of those things while carrying and feeling and living out love.

Rose is the kind of female character I love to read about – unapologetic, confident, loyal, strong, inspiring. She’s not ashamed of her choices, never afraid to speak her mind; and a woman both intelligent and beautiful. Embodiment of a feminist! And Connor.. uh, no words. *dreamy eyes* He’s my ultimate book boyfriend. You need to meet him and you’ll love him. 

Moreover, I’m also glad that some old loose ends were tied (old enemies defeated), and other characters are developed more as well. Just because this book is written from Coballoway POV, it doesn’t mean that there is no Raisy or LiLo. 

Furthermore, in Addicted After All, my favorite side character was Ryke; but this time it’s Daisy. My heart beat really fast on three occasions, and two of those revolved around Daisy. The Calloway sisters at the lake-house scene was heartbreaking, more so because someone very close to me experienced the same thing as Daisy did and I’m eagerly waiting for the final book! 

Addicted series for me represents everything New Adult as a genre should be, but sadly is often not. First of all, there is no unnecessary drama, couples are not broken up without apparent reason, there’s no cheating, etc. Great majority of romance novels end once the couple gets together, however, with these books we observe 6 people growing together, individually and as couples, we see them developing, facing challenges and winning despite the odds. That is what makes them so realistic to me. 

Furthermore, family bonds and friendships are another aspect that makes these books stand out. This time, my favorite combo was Rose, Connor and Ryke. Connor and Ryke’s friendship is the ‘newest’ and I loved seeing it get to the new level; there’s respect and new understanding between them. Hopefully, in LWD we’ll get more moments involving “older kids club.” *grin* 

Therefore, Fuel the Fire was indeed one incredibly written book, it gave us everything we love about Connor and Rose and more. There are some very important issues being raised, regarding public image, labeling, sexuality. I really didn’t want to discuss anything particular in regards to plot in my review; I went into it completely blind and was pleasantly surprised along the way. 

In conclusion, at the end of my review, I just want to say: thank you Krista & Becca, not only for giving us wonderful stories and characters, but for influencing us, through them. I myself feel very inspired by e.g. Rose, and certain Coballoway moments from this book I will always hold dear to me. Fuel the Fire is indeed my new favorite from the series and there is nothing better than when a book fulfills your expectations! 

Connor has always had these deep blue, austere eyes that flit between serenity and hard-pressed truths. It’s as though he contains the world’s knowledge and history, the dark ages and the light ones. Behind his own entitlement lies all of these grim and wonderful facts about millenniums of people: the first voyagers, the first philosophers, the very first scientists. When I look into his eyes now, the millenniums shrink to a pool of two. Two people. Just us. The facts are swept with truths, and history is right now. 

xoxo,

Beatrix

REVIEW: Just A Bit Unhealthy (Straight Guys, #3) By Alessandra Hazard

Genre:

MM Contemporary Romance

Buy The Book:

AMAZON

Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Blog

Synopsis:

When the line between “need” and “want” gets blurred...

Gabriel DuVal, rising soccer star.

Jared Sheldon, team physician.

To the outside world, they’re just good friends. But the truth is, Gabriel isn’t entirely sure what they are to each other.

Some call their relationship unhealthy. Some call it codependency. Gabriel calls it confusing. He knows Jared wants him – as more than a friend. He doesn’t want Jared. He’s straight, he has a girlfriend, and he loves her. But Jared is… Jared is more. Jared is his. He needs him – his touch and his strength.

But is it enough for Jared?

Publisher's warning: This is not a light-hearted story; this is a rather twisted gay-for-you story. It contains some steamy MM scenes, explicit language, and two people so wrapped up in each other that the nature of their relationship goes beyond friendship--and beyond normal.

RATING: 2.5/5 stars

*** REVIEW ***

I loved the first two books of this series, so there was no question whether I was going to read this one, even though Gabriel & Jared didn't exactly win my affection so easily as the other characters after we first met them in the previous book.

Unfortunately, my first impression of them didn't change even after I've read their story. Frankly, they ended up being my least favorite couple of this series. Why is that? Well, the main reason for that is one of the main characters- Gabriel. His immature, childish, manipulative and needy, but above all selfish behavior got on my nerves since the first page, together with a few un-fu*king-believable choices of other characters (Jared, Claire etc.) He was a true drama queen in my opinion making everything and everyone about himself. I didn't appreciate how he behaved towards Gabriel or his girlfriend Claire. Whereas I was glad for the way things turned out for the girl in the previous book, because she totally had it coming, I didn't like like the way things were handled for Claire in this one, even though she wasn't exactly innocent herself. I actually felt sorry for her.

In comparison to Gabriel, I liked Jared for the most part. He seemed sweet and sincere, but too kind for his own good. What I didn't like is how easily he gave into Gabriel's every wish, even after everything he had put him through. I prefer characters with more attitude and self-respect than that. To sum it up- the author failed to make me connect with the characters or care about them. In the end, I became totally indifferent whether they'll have a HEA or not.

Don't get me wrong, there were some very good moments too, but sadly, they ended up overshadowed by the melodrama for me and if there's one thing I don't appreciate in the books I read that's melodrama. That is why 2.5 stars. This won't prevent me from reading the next book though. What can I say- I'm too weak when it comes to these friends-to-lovers/ gay-for-you mm romance books. Hopefully, my impression of the next installment will be more positive than this one.

xoxo,

Purple

REVIEW: The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #12) By J. R. Ward

Genre:

Paranormal Romance/ Urban Fantasy

Buy The Book:

B & N / BOOK DEPOSITORY / KOBO / AMAZON

Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Website / Twitter / Facebook

Synopsis On Goodreads:

J.R. Ward's # 1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood continues as a royal bloodline is compromised by a grave threat to the throne.

Long live the King... 

After turning his back on the throne for centuries, Wrath, son of Wrath, finally assumed his father’s mantle—with the help of his beloved mate. But the crown sets heavily on his head. As the war with the Lessening Society rages on, and the threat from the Band of Bastards truly hits home, he is forced to make choices that put everything—and everyone—at risk.

Beth Randall thought she knew what she was getting into when she mated the last pure blooded vampire on the planet: An easy ride was not it. But when she decides she wants a child, she’s unprepared for Wrath’s response—or the distance it creates between them.

The question is, will true love win out... or tortured legacy take over?

RATING: 2 disappointed stars

*** REVIEW ***

BDB series is or better say was one of my favorite paranormal romance series for many years with Wrath's, Zsadist's and John M.'s books being my fav books of the series and Blay and Qhuinn being my ultimate favorite BDB couple. Then, why did it take me more than a year to read this book? Well, mostly because I wasn't overly excited with author's plans to focus again on the old couples instead of the new ones, so I decided to wait until I was in the right mood for it again. Now that I've finally read it I don't regret it at all, because...

Lets start with the things that I actually liked about this book:

- the introduction of the new character s'Ex
- Wrath's and Beth's storyline (occasionally)
- iAm's pov

And that's it...

The things that I didn't like:

- Multiple povs
Multple povs in books were usually hit/miss in my reading history, but when it comes to this one it was definitely a miss. I can deal with it when the povs are focused on one story, but this book felt as if it could have been divided into at least 2-3 separate books. 

We have Wrath's & Beth's storyline, then Trez's and Selena's, Xcor's and Layla's, Assail's and Marisol's, some characters individually and all that in one book. We even get povs from totally irrelevant, side characters. I mean, I said it already for the previous book, but Ward has truly taken the multiple pov exchange on a whole new level, and not in a good way in my opinion. To sum it up- the plot was all over the place.

The first 100 pages bored me so much that I put the book on hold for more than a month and then got back to it hoping that the story will get better, but that didn't happen. I wasn't impressed with the way the author developed the story, solved the supposed twists or with the immature and foolish behavior of the majority of the characters. The author's writing failed to make me care about the characters or their storyline for the most of the part and don't let me start on the cheesy content...The one question going through my head while reading was: Why was I a fan of this series, again???

- The overflow of pop-culture references
Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Jim Carrey, Taylor Swift, Man Of Steele and many more.

- The boring and repetitive sex scenes 
To be honest, I was skimming a lot when it comes to those parts.

All in  all, when I compare this book to the newest installments of my other favorite urban fantasy/ paranormal series, I truly don't think it deserves more than 2 stars. Sadly, I think the time has come for me and this series to part ways, because I'm not happy with the direction the author is taking the plot. I won't say it's for good, but with the way things are now- I'm too disappointed to even see myself getting the next book.

xoxo,

Purple

SURPRISE RELEASE & GIVEAWAY: Marrow by Tarryn Fisher

Happy Release Day to Marrow by Tarryn Fisher! We are so excited to be sharing the release of another much anticipated book from this amazing author!!

♥ BUY THE BOOK ♥

Amazon 

In the Bone there is a house.

In the house there is a girl.

In the girl there is a darkness.

Margo is not like other girls. She lives in a derelict neighborhood called the Bone, in a cursed house, with her cursed mother, who hasn’t spoken to her in over two years. She lives her days feeling invisible. It’s not until she develops a friendship with her wheelchair-bound neighbor, Judah Grant, that things begin to change. When neighborhood girl, seven-year-old Nevaeh Anthony, goes missing, Judah sets out to help Margo uncover what happened to her.

What Margo finds changes her, and with a new perspective on life, she’s determined to find evil and punish it–targeting rapists and child molesters, one by one.

But hunting evil is dangerous, and Margo risks losing everything, including her own soul.

Tarryn Fisher is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of six novels. Her newest novel, Marrow, just released in April 2015 and she is currently working on the second installment of Never Never. She is the co-founder of Clothed Caption, a fashion blog she runs with her friend, Madison Seidler. Tarryn resides in the Seattle area with her family. She loves rainy days, Coke, and thinks Instagram is the new Facebook. Tarryn is represented by Amy Tannenbaum of the Jane Rotrosen Agency.

Facebook | Twitter | Website | Instagram | Goodreads

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xoxo,

Beatrix

Review: TAKING THE HEAT (Shadow Stalkers, #2) by Sylvia Day

Summary:

From Sylvia Day, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Crossfire novels, comes Taking the Heat, a novella of the Shadow Stalkers—where men in uniform are trained to enforce the rules. Out of uniform, those rules are made to be broken.

He had three days to fix everything. Three days to remind her of how good they were together. She was a captive audience…

Layla Creed and Deputy US Marshal Brian Simmons have a history that is as hot and heartbreaking as it is unforgettable. Now their paths have crossed once again. This time things are twice as hot. Layla—a protected witness—has been persuaded to come out of hiding and testify in a sensational murder trial. But as far as Brian’s concerned, there’s an even more pressing problem.

Once Layla testifies she’ll get sucked back into the Witness Protection Program. A new identity, a new location, a new occupation—and a new inspector to check up on her. In other words, out of his life forever. There is one more option—take Layla and go on the run. Rekindling what they once had should be easy. But a stranger in their shadow has plans of his own, forcing Brian and Layla to risk everything in the name of love.
 

 
Buy links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks | iBooks | Kobo 

Connect with the author:

Website | Facebook |  Twitter | Goodreads

My review:

3 stars.

New Shadows Stalkers story, new couple, explosion, taking the heat, running from authority and a cartel, getting busy in the sheets, arguing... And only three days to fix everything.

Brian & Layla aren't 100% new: there was a tiny part in Razor's Edge with them, though Layla was only mentioned as the cause of Brian's heartache. Five years worth of heartache.

After all the romance stories that have made it to my Read shelf, I can safely say I really love the second-chance romances. Maybe it's the added drama, or that I'd like to believe if people screw a good thing once, that it isn't beyond repair, or perhaps to believe people get wiser in time, and don't keep making stupid mistakes. Whichever it is. What's important is that I like it.

Layla and Brian had had five years to regret their separation, which is five years too long, but humans have a tendency to say stupid things instead of being open when it's most needed, and fictional people aren't exempt. But after five years of loneliness and heartache Brian and Layla crossed paths again, and pretty quickly reignited their passion. And that time around Brian was far from willing to let Layla walk out of his life. Once was more than enough.

While Razor's Edge didn't have a story line concerning the hero's job as a Shadow Stalker, Taking the Heat did. That was what actually brought them back in each other's lives: Brian was sent to protect Layla who had been in the Witness Protection Program the past two years, and supposed to testify in a trial in only few days time, something the accused one's weren't willing to let happen. While Brian trying to get Layla safely to her destination is a big part of the plot, the major focus is really on the romance: Brian & Layla step by hot, dirty, sweaty step getting to their happy ending. Personally, I prefer it this way. If only he hadn't kept calling her baby, I would have liked it even more. When you're in need of something steamy, and on the shorter side, this could do the trick. Or if you're like me recovering from The Fault in Our Stars.

Until next time, happy reading!

XOXO