The Fall Up
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Aly Martinez
Release Date: October 26, 2015
I wanted to jump.
He made me fall.
As a celebrity, I lived in the public eye, but somewhere along the way, I’d lost myself in the spotlight.
Until he found me.
Sam Rivers was a gorgeous, tattooed stranger who saved my life with nothing more than a simple conversation.
But we were both standing on that bridge for a reason the night we met. The secrets of our pasts brought us together—and then tore us apart.
Could we find a reason to hold on as life constantly pulled us down?
Or maybe there’s only one direction to go when two people fall in love at rock bottom—up.
My career was soaring while, personally, I was plummeting. Every single day felt like a terrifying free fall in no particular direction. I was stuck in the middle with no way up- or down.
It’s not secret that I love all things Aly Martinez. The woman can do no wrong in my eyes. Between her emotional stories, captivating multi-dimensional characters, and incredible romances, I will never get enough of her books. But this one? This wonderful, beautiful, unforgettable book? She simply outdid herself with this one. It’s not often where I’ll read about a hero that’s neither a manwhore or an asshole, and fall completely head over heels in love. But that’s precisely what happened here. Sam Rivers may very well be one of my favorite heroes this year.
The Fall Up is wonderfully swoony romance about two broken souls that find each other at the worst and best times of their lives and help each other heal. It was as emotional as it was romantic and I couldn’t bear to put it down for even a second. There was no crazy drama. No overwhelming angst. No unnecessary twists. Just a beautiful romance about healing, forgiveness, and an imperfectly perfect love. It was interspersed with just the right amount of humor to make it one of my favorite books from this year.
“Excellent point. I’m going to need you to try really hard to keep it together, Levee. You haven’t even seen my six-pack and huge cock, yet.”
“You brought beer and chicken?”
Levee Williams is a famous pop star that seemingly has it all. Yet every night she’s been finding herself on top of the Golden Gate Bridge…contemplating. Buried by grief from her past and trying to live with it has been systematically sending her deeper down into a dark spiral that she ultimately doesn’t see a way out from.
But then on one of the darker days of her life, she meets a man that changes everything for her; Sam Rivers. Sam is a sexy, tattooed stranger with some dark secrets of his own. But in his dark times he manages to bring Levee on her fall down…back up. Together they were absolute perfection.
The man also happens to have piercings in the most delicious of places. But that’s neither here nor there.
Between the secondary characters, the swoony and sexy romance, and the captivating writing, I fell completely in love with this story. Both Sam and Levee have issues of their own but I loved the way that they dealt with them. There’s no silly misunderstandings. I can’t say enough about this couple and the way that the author wrote them. It was perfect. Just. Perfect. One of my favorite things about The Fall Up was one of the secondary characters, Henry. The banter between him and Levee never failed to put a goofy grin on my face. I couldn’t get enough of him.
“No one is nibbling anything,” Sam quickly added.
Henry winked. “Yet.”
“Jesus, I need a cigarette.”
“Oh, me too. Let’s go outside,” Henry agreed…
“Don’t you dare! First of all, you don’t smoke. Second of all, Sam is completely off-limits to you.”
“You’re so selfish,” he whined….”Maybe if you quit your bitching, we could watch him walk away together. His ass is insane.”
And the best news is that Aly will be giving Henry the book that he so rightfully deserves. As charismatic as he was as a secondary character, I can’t wait to see what he’ll have to offer in his own book.
If you’ve read any of this author’s books, then you already know how fantastic she is. But if you haven’t? This is the perfect standalone to start with.
Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Aly Martinez is a stay-at-home mom to four crazy kids under the age of five, including a set of twins. Currently living in South Carolina, she passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she can get her hands on, preferably with a glass of wine at her side.
After some encouragement from her friends, Aly decided to add “Author” to her ever-growing list of job titles. Five books later, she shows no signs of slowing. So grab a glass of Chardonnay, or a bottle if you’re hanging out with Aly, and join her aboard the crazy train she calls life.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Let’s talk dark erotic taboo. This depraved pervert can’t get enough of it. Take a look at my read shelves and you’ll see what I mean. I loves me some kink. But here’s the thing, even my perviness has it’s limit, and it doesn’t matter who writes it or how amazing the book is, it is guaranteed to deflate my enjoyment quicker than whisky dick: The “Daddy/Little One” kink. Can I look past it to finish a book where I’m loving the story, as was the case here? Absolutely. Does it tickle my particular fancy?
True story.
Candice met Ivan when she had nothing. Leaving behind everyone she knows and everything she has, she was running and desperate. Ivan fed on her need but not in a sexual way. At least not at first. After all, when they first meet she’s only 16 years old. The sexual aspect of their relationship only comes into play three years later. I never did pick up on Ivan’s age. Perhaps this was mentioned in the previous books, but I’m left to believe that he was considerably older and so the Daddy thing icked me out even more.
There’s the added element of suspense that weaved into the plot flawlessly and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Unfortunately as much as I loved Ivan and Candy individually, together they were just OK for me and I blame that entirely on the “daddy” thing.
Honestly, between Candy’s inexperience, Ivan’s domineering personality and need to “take care” of her, the sexual aspect of this book did absolutely nothing for me. At all. I didn’t find it hot or erotic. It just was.
Now now, don’t judge me here! It’s fair to say that this had absolutely nothing to do with the book and absolutely everything to do with reader preference. I prefer my heroes alphas, and a more unassuming beta hero doesn’t tickle my fancy as much. While Sebastian is a great hero, he’s just not what I prefer in my books. If you’re looking for a story with a hero that’s as rich as he is nice, then Sebastian is definitely your guy.
A sexy, captivating and thrilling conclusion to a trilogy that captured me from the very start! If you haven’t met Hudson Chase, you haven’t lived. The man is intense, sinfully sexy, protective, with a touch of broody. While I’m not usually a reader of trilogies since my attention span seems to wane somewhere around book 2, I’ve been dying to get my hands on this book for one reason and one reason only: Hudson.
Nothing like floating on a life raft with your buddies after escaping a sinking ship and puking off the side to reflect on one’s life. But that’s exactly what Logan McCabe finds himself doing. When the discussion leads to the one thing they’d go back in time to change, there’s only one thing floating in Logan’s mind. The sizzling one night stand he shared with a woman eleven years ago that rocked his world. So what’s a man to do? Look her up, track her down, and proposition her for more, of course.
Logan is an ex-con with an aversion to cops, and the Abby eleven years later just happens to be a detective. A match made in heaven they are not. I absolutely loved these two together. Abby may be a touch prissy, but she sure gives as good as she gets. Logan is everything I’ve come to love in a Brazen hero, totally alpha and a dirty talking god. Add in a secret pregnancy trope, and watch the sparks fly! My only quibble is what I felt was a little too much cheese with the ending. 
Always Dangerous was my first book by Dee J. Adams and it’s safe to say after finishing, that it certainly won’t be my last. I love a steamy romantic suspense, and Adrenaline Highs delivers on that end flawlessly. Now you’re probably thinking to yourself, but Lana, this is book 6 in the series and you’re starting with this book. And to you, my OCD friend, I say, I like to live dangerously.
Right then.
Adorably quirky, laugh out loud funny, and deliciously sexy, Nuts was the perfect escape read I’ve had in quite a while. Alice Clayton just gets better and better with each new book, but she simply outdid herself with this one. If the Nuts is anything to go by, we have quite a bit to look forward to in Alice’s new Hudson Valley series.
Roxie Callahan is a celbrity chef in hollywood catering to the rich, famous and the entitled. She loves to cook…dealing with some of her clients? Not so much. So when an unfortunate butter incident costs her almost most of her clients, suddenly her kooky mother’s request for her to come back to the town she grew up in and run the restaurant while she’s away doesn’t sound so bad. Then a certain bearded farmer changes her outlook on the small town entirely…
In addition to the fantastic secondary characters, the wit and the humor, the setting of the book is what really hooked me. The author did such a fabulous job truly engrossing the reader in this wonderful town. I couldn’t help but be transported there myself as I was reading it.
Ella Frank is a chameleon of genres. The woman is a damn genius is what she is. Whether it be contemporary, MM, Urban Fantasy, and now PNR, it seems like she really cannot do any wrong. I had no idea what to expect when I picked this book up, but I knew two things for sure:
Truth be told, I’m always hesitant with the first book in a PNR series because almost always it will suffer what I refer to as a case of the firsts. What I mean is, between the introduction of all the characters, the world building, and everything in between, I often find myself taking a while to get into the story and wrap my mind around everything. I was beyond thrilled and not a little surprised that that wasn’t the case here. I was sucked into the book immediately. The character development, the rich world building, the unbelievably sizzling sexual tension is what made this book the unputdownable read that it was.
Alasdair is a first sired; one of the most powerful vampires in existence second only to his sire; Vasilios. Ruthless, unapologetic, and with a magnetic sexual appeal there’s not much in life that Alasdair doesn’t have. His face has lured plenty a human to their death while experiencing a pleasure unlike any they’ve ever experienced. But he’s also a vampire of particular tastes. Being alive for centuries has ensured that not just anyone experiences the pleasure of receiving his carnal attentions. But then one human changes everything…
