Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Monday, March 14, 2016
Into the Fire - 4-Star Review
In one month’s time, seventeen-year-old Cara Tillman will die and be reborn from her own ashes…
Her life of secrecy has never been easy. She’s watched her younger brother, Jeremy, burn and rise again in a coming-of-age process called rebirth. And just like her brother, when her time comes, she won’t remember anything from her first life other than she’s a Phoenix—a member of a small group of people descended from the mythical Phoenix bird.
The last thing she needs to worry about is falling for the new guy in town—Logan Schmidt.
Cara is drawn to Logan in a way she can’t explain, but she’s not exactly complaining. Everything is perfect…except it’s not. Once she’s reborn, she’ll forget Logan. And to make things worse, a Phoenix Hunter is on the loose, and Cara’s involvement with Logan is bringing out her Phoenix qualities—the very qualities that will draw the Hunter right to her.
Desperate times call for desperate measures…
Afraid of hurting Logan, Cara breaks it off for good. But her attraction to him runs deeper than a typical high school crush. She wants him—needs him. And if he proves willing to stay by her side, their love might destroy them both.
Can Cara hide from the Phoenix Hunters long enough to survive her rebirth? And if so, will it mean a new beginning with Logan—or the beginning of the end?
4-Star Review:
Ok, so let me start with a confession... I love phoenixes. Seriously, I love everything about them from the symbolism to the mythology to the imagery. So when I heard that Kelly Hashway was writing a series about them, I am not too proud to say that I did a happy dance in front of my computer screen. And then I got a copy of the book and did another jubilant jig.
However in the midst of my celebrating, I had a horrible thought... what if it isn't as good as I think it is going to be? We've experienced that book that we have anxiously waited for, gotten our hands on, and been sorely disappointed by, and never want to relive that experience. So when I was about to crack open the first book in a series about my absolute favorite mythical character, I got nervous and procrastinated... and procrastinated... and said look how pretty the cover is. Until finally, I opened the book with only one eye open, checking to see if it could possibly live up to my dreams.
I read the first chapter with only one eye, but then the other eye slowly but surely joined the party. From there, it was difficult to put the book down to accomplish mundane tasks such as work, volunteering, and other household chores. The imagery not only fulfilled my every expectation, but left me in awe as well.
With some YA novels, you have to wade through the overwhelming amount of teen angst, but let me tell you... there is no wading through Into the Fire! It is a roller coaster ride from beginning to end. Yes, the main characters are teenagers, but they have some maturity and common sense about them which makes following their story not only enjoyable, but addictive!
So it is with great enthusiasm and verve that I suggest picking up a copy of Into the Fire, and allow me to also give you a piece of advice to go along with that suggestion - go ahead and pre-order the second book, Out of the Ashes, which will be released on March 22nd. By the time you finish it, you will be begging for the second book so you can see what happens next.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Emerge:The Awakening - 4-Star Review
The Awakening
(Emerge #1)
Release Date:
April 1st 2015
Summary from Goodreads:
2015 Dante Rossetti Awards Finalist
2015 International Book Awards Finalist
2015 USA Best Book Award Finalist
Allie Carmichael has always believed life is simple.
You’re born.
You live.
You die.
She has no cause to believe that equation works differently for her, but there has to be a reason the world treats her like a pariah.
When an unexpected move to Kelleys Island brings Aidan McBrien crashing into her life, Allie is thrown by his reaction. He doesn’t shrink from her touch. He doesn’t stutter or make a quick exit. He smiles and welcomes her into his circle of friends, who aren’t exactly comfortable with Allie, but they seem to get her in a way most people don’t.
Finally, Allie has a real shot at normal and rides that high right up to her sixteenth birthday when she wakes in agony—an experience Aidan insists they have all faced. She struggles in ignorance, uncertain of what is real and what isn’t. When she emerges, Allie is different. She has always been different, but even among her extraordinary friends, she and Aidan are special.
As Allie struggles to maintain her tenuous grasp on the power that threatens to overwhelm her, she worries she will lose herself in this strange new world. A dangerous world where she will have to fight tooth and nail to defend the power and freedom that is her birthright.
…only Allie hates to fight.
Review:
Holy unanswered questions, Batman! I haven't seen a cliffhanger like Emerge: The Awakening since City of Bones or Divergent! It was a total page-turner and impossible to put down. Allie is a spitfire of a character with a ferociously strong will and a wit to match! Of course since she found out on her 16th birthday that she is a natural born immortal, of course she has to go through a process of self-discovery.
Fair warning, once you finish the first book, you will be dying to dive into the second one!
Emerge: The Awakening is on sale
for $1.99 during the tour!
Emerge: The Edge is on sale for
$0.99 during the tour!
About the Author
Today, she is back in Atlanta—for some reason she can't seem to stay away from the ungodly heat that makes her long for things like "lake effect snow" and wind that will knock you flat.
Melissa decided a long time ago that the “life checklist” everyone else was clutching so tightly in their fists, just wasn’t for her. She does everything backwards because she is weird like that, but then, she is an artist and artists are notoriously "unique" and "quirky."
She is an avid student of art and design, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of West Georgia in 2009. She worked as an interior designer for several years, but she's always thought she might like to be a writer when she grows up.
In her spare time, if she has any, she enjoys shopping for derelict furniture she refinishes to exercise the interior design part of her brain.
Author Links:
GIVEAWAY:
Blog Tour Organized by:
Friday, February 19, 2016
Rough
***NO CLIFFHANGER. THE BEAR CHRONICLES OF WILLOW CREEK ARE WRITTEN SO THAT EACH INSTALLMENT IS A COMPLETE STORY AND CAN BE READ ALONE***
Ethan Artair lived his life happily in Willow Creek. Living among shifters, he was able to live free and allow his bear to do the same. Everything changed, the day a reporter came to his little town and made everyone’s life a living hell. As mayor, he had no choice but take a human wife to disprove the reporter’s claim that no outsiders are allowed their town. Disgust filled Ethan when he met his new wife, but his disgust quickly changed to something he never thought he could feel for a human, lust.
Amelia Calder is forced to live with the scars of her parents’ death. While growing up in foster care, her only desire was to see her younger sister be happy. Knowing her minimum wage job would never be enough to care for her sister, she made the only choice she could. She decided to move to a town she had never heard of and marry a man she had never met. Fear filled Amelia when she finally met her new husband, but her fear quickly changed to something else, something she's never felt before, lust.
Can lust turn into love, between a human and a bear shifter?
Rough is an erotic shifter novella. If you don’t like insta-lust that turns into insta-love, a sex starved bear shifter, a virgin heroine that craves her mate, or tons of smoking hot sex this is not the book for you.
AMAZON * AMAZON UK
AMAZON CA * AMAZON AU
Emily Minton
USA Today Best Selling author, Emily Minton is a Kentucky native. She is proud to call the Bluegrass State home. She claims she bleeds blue–Wildcat Blue! She has been married to her husband, David, for over twenty years. They share two wonderful children. Emily loves to read and has more books on her kindle than most people could read in a life time, but she intends to read every single one. She has published nine books, but there are many more are floating around in her head. She hopes to get them all on paper before long.
Julia Keith
Julia Keith is a UK native based out of Bradford England but she loves to go back to her family roots in Scotland whenever possible.
Although Trapped With An Alpha is her first published novel, Julia has been a part of the Romance community for years through blogging and reviewing. Her love of Paranormal Romance inspired her to start some of her own stories and after sharing one with her now Co Author Emily Minton, she decided it was time for the world to meet the characters she had grown to love so much.
Hosted By:
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
The Mind - Promo
We fell in love in a lightning strike, a sudden anomaly in a sea of lost people.
He knew right away, yet I was hesitant. I could have never prepared myself for a love like ours.
No one could.
As a child, I had conjured an amazing story in my mind. It was a story I could retell about a man that would move me like no other; a story about the way we met and how he had swept me off my feet. But, the ending to that fairytale was so far from the reality.
No one will want to hear that story now, but for Grant, I will always tell it.
***Explicit Sex and Language. Not for those who are not fans of spontaneous love affairs.
When I started school, I’d decided that love could wait. Well, after my one and only boyfriend threw me away for someone that looked more like the girl I’d taken a seat next to. I envied girls like that, so well put together at all times: the right clothes, the right shoes, perfect hair and skin tone, no matter the weather. I, however, was a hot mess and had been since I was a kid. Growing up, I had absolutely no interest in playing Barbie’s with my sister when I could be swinging from trees. When we were younger, Dallas used to come in from playing to show our parents she hadn’t gotten her clothes dirty, while I, to my mother’s absolute horror, brought in anything that crawled or hopped. As I watched the girl next to me play with her perfectly painted nails, I swore to myself that one day I would make time for things like that. I would become a better, more alluring version of myself.
Yeah, right.
School came first, love would have to wait, and my father agreed wholeheartedly. My mother, on the other hand, had told me “The whole world would not make a damn bit of sense until I fell in love.” I’d already tried that and had barely made it out alive. My parents were a pair of romantics. While I did subscribe to their brand of thought, right now was not the time.
Curiosity got the best of me and I turned to my left, although I had sworn to myself I wouldn’t, and felt the prick of a tingle start from my scalp then down my back as I found his eyes on me.
Turning my attention back to the lecture, I cursed my stupid curiosity. Why was he still looking at me?
When we were dismissed, I stood up to make my way to my apartment to read what I could to prep for my next lab, but was stopped short at the door by the same man that had already taken up too much of my imagination. I pushed past him for the second time but was stopped in the corridor when he addressed me.
“You.” It was a statement from him, not a question. I turned to look at him, utterly confused.
“Me?” I noticed his girlfriend eyeing our exchange as she continued to talk to her friends.
“What’s your name?”
“Rose.”
“Rose,” he mimicked, his eyes still intent on mine. He stood with his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he continued to stare. I finally broke our gaze. He smiled at the ground for a moment then looked at me again. “Okay.” His smile was breathtaking. It was boyishly handsome on a face that screamed all man. I was supposed to be doing something. What was I doing? He had my full attention. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. He was quite a bit taller than I was and had a broad chest that was torturing his pale blue t-shirt. He didn’t belong in my class. He didn’t belong in this school, and it was too easy to tell. He had a deep tan and looked to be a bit of a roughneck. We stared at each other for a full minute as I tried desperately to take all of him in, but he had too much body for me to compartmentalize. Between the bulges in his arms, his broad chest, and an ass I was straining to get a glimpse of, I concluded he looked like Tarzan in modern day clothing. If I kept my appraisal of him going on any longer, I felt I would start spouting off things like: “You Tarzan, me Jane, and me want to swing.”
“Okay, Rose,” he said, interrupting my inner dialogue and daydream. Damn him! We were almost happy living in the trees. It was obvious he had something on his mind.
“Is there a conversation I’m having with you that I don’t know about?” I asked in a hushed tone.
“Yes, Rose, there is.” I was graced with another smile— oh, God, a dimple— then, “I’ll see you around.”
“Well... who are you?” He looked back at me with a confidence I’d only seen a few men carry, namely my father.
“I’m the man that’s going to marry you.” I snorted, quite unattractively, as my reply. Then he caught my gaze again, imploring me to believe him. “I’m the man that you are going to marry.”
AMAZON * B&N * KOBO * iBOOKS
Kate Stewart, a native of Dallas, now resides in Charleston, S.C. She moved to the city three weeks after her first visit, dropping her career of 8 years, declaring the city her creative muse. Since her move in 2010, she has published two novels, the third coming July 2015. She lives with her husband of 8 years, Nick who is featured on the cover of the novel, TITAN.
Her other novels include Room 212, Never Me, and Loving the White Liar which are all available now.
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Monday, February 15, 2016
Finding Strength - Cover Reveal
“Just one more thing before I go, know that I am proud of you. I’ll be waiting in the wings when our time to reunite comes.”
Life is full of surprises. Sometimes those surprises are wonderful and sometimes they are horrific. Raising her beautiful daughter, Lindsey, on her own with the unending support of her best friend and her husband, Anna was happy.
Until one night…she wasn’t.
Tragedy struck, tipping Anna’s world into a downward spiral of despair. Her world turns dark and bleak and she sinks further into depression. Her friends try to pull her from her pit of misery, but it’s Jacob Caulder that saves her, bringing her back into the light.
Life is good again, although memories still haunt her. The one missing link to her existence is no longer there, but Jacob helps her along the way, giving her back something she’s lost.
They say we are never given more than we can overcome.
They say we are never given more than we can overcome.
Once again, life rips Anna’s world apart, leaving behind shattered remains. Guilt and shame plague her and it seems impossible for her to crawl out of the deep hole she finds herself in once more. But she has no choice. There is someone else that needs her to be strong.
At the darkest time of her life, Zak walks in and becomes the savior that she needs. Finding her strength, she overcomes the heartbreak of her past and learns to blossom again.
Will life find another way to bring Anna to her knees and keep her there once and for all? Or has fate deemed she’s given up enough already?
Shevawn Michelle lives in central Georgia with her husband, three dogs, turtle, and hermit crab.
She loves the outdoors when the weather is nice. Camping, fishing, or reading a good book are a few of her hobbies.
She loves thunderstorms and secretly wanted to be a storm chaser in her younger days.
Shevawn is always looking to connect with her readers!
SOCIAL PAGES:
Shevawn Michelle lives in central Georgia with her husband, three dogs, turtle, and hermit crab.
She loves the outdoors when the weather is nice. Camping, fishing, or reading a good book are a few of her hobbies.
She loves thunderstorms and secretly wanted to be a storm chaser in her younger days.
Shevawn is always looking to connect with her readers!
SOCIAL PAGES:
Hosted By:
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Roo's Reviews - Born To Sin
Synopsis
HAMISH - I was born to an alcoholic mother and alcoholic, drug dealing father. Not a good start to life for a young boy. I was born to sin.
I've lied, cheated, assaulted, been an adulterer and stolen. It's how one survives the 'hood'. I have a reputation for being the 'bad boy', the fuck 'em and leave 'em type. I have never spent the night with a woman and I have never brought a woman home. We 'play' at her place and as soon as I'm done, I leave.
After fleeing my home at the age of thirteen and living on the streets - an option I found better than being with my parents, my life is turned around by an elderly lady.
I educate myself, become an award winning chef and return to the 'hood where I rent an apartment. I love and care about no-one and nothing except my Harley Motorcycle. It's here I met Jonesy and he takes my life in a whole new direction. Along with Wade, a fellow chef and the only person I can trust, the pair teach me how to love. Not only myself, but others.
BLOSSOM - I'm a wealthy Restaurateur thanks to an inheritance I received when my father passed.
I live in a penthouse apartment in the 'rich' part of the city.
Being pampered and spoiled all my life has turned me into a woman who sees something she wants and, like a dog with a bone, I won't let go until it's mine. I'm a winner. I ALWAYS win.
I don't have relationships with men. One night stands suit me just fine. I can't trust it's me they want and not my money.
I meet Hamish by chance when I'm on the hunt for a new Head Chef. He treats me like I'm not worth a second thought. I've never been treated this way and I decide at that moment, I will make Hamish mine.
Hamish has no interest in the pampered Blossom but for some reason she gets under his skin.
Then, something happens that makes him realize, he has fallen in love. Will it be too late? Will tragedy strike before he can hold her in his arms and confess his true feelings?
Roo's Review
Damaged...bad boy... biker... chef. What's not to love about Hamish? He's the guy that every girl wants but can't sink their claws into. And while he ca be a complete idiot, he still has a good heart, when he decides to show it.
When Blossom comes along, he cannot deny his attraction to her, even though she is the furthest thing from his type. And he is pretty sure that he is anything but Blossom's type. Of course, that is not the only feeling that is mutual.
The story line will keep you guessing with unexpected twists and turns. Hamish reminds me a bit of Travis Maddox from Jamie McGuire's Beautiful Disaster, which makes me love him even more.
So if you are a Maddox fan looking for a good book to read this Valentine's Day, then Born to Sin is an excellent choice!
About the Author
I grew up in Sydney and moved to Queensland as an adult.
I am married with two sons and a daughter.
I love to read and am like a sponge. I will read pretty much anything.
Travel, walks and the beach are my three most favorite things to do.
My hope is for readers to enjoy what I have written as much as I enjoy writing it.
Born to Sin will be my first book.
Links
Website - https://alsimpson79.wordpress.com/
Email – alsimpson79@yahoo.com.au
Twitter – https://twitter.com/https://twitter.com/alsimpson79/
Purchase Links
Amazon US : http://amzn.com/B01AEAIHRI
Amazon UK : http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01AEAIHRI
Amazon AU : http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01AEAIHRI
Amazon CA : http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01AEAIHRI
Follow along with the review tour
February 12 - February 26
February 12 - Natural Bri
February 13 - Romeo and Roo Books
February 14 - Nerdy, Dirty, and Flirty
February 16 - Paranormal Romance and Authors that Rock
February 17 - A Life Through Books
February 18 - Texas Book Nook
February 19 - Wicked Good Reads
February 22 - The Dragon Slayer
February 23 - Book Lover Circumspect
February 24 - Jessica Cassidy
February 25 - Obsessed By Books
February 26 - Reading, Drinking, and Relaxing
February 26 - RABT Reviews - Wrap Up
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