New Release Review & Giveaway: When I Need You by Lorelei James

July 25, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

WHEN I NEED YOU
Series: Need You #4
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Lorelei James
Release Date: July 25, 2017

Rules are tossed aside when a pro football player join forces with a spitfire cheerleading coach in New York Timesbestselling author Lorelei James’s brand-new romance…

Heir to Lund Enterprises and ladies’ man Jensen “The Rocket” Lund has three conditions when it comes to dating:
1) No single mothers
2) No cheerleaders
3) No medical personnel
So it makes no sense that he’s wildly attracted to Rowan Michaels, who breaks all three.

Rowan Michaels didn’t pass the rigorous requirements to become an athletic trainer and Vikings cheerleader in the hopes of landing a pro athlete: been there, done that, and she has a young son as proof that football players and fidelity don’t go hand in hand. When Rowan learns her new neighbor is Jensen Lund, the smoking-hot tight end who takes being neighborly to a whole new level, she’s grateful for the team’s strict “no fraternization” policy because the sexy man defines temptation.

But Jensen is intent on rushing straight to the goal line to prove to Rowan he’s much more than just a player…on and off the field.

AMAZON | iBOOKS

Jensen Lund was one hundred percent prime alpha male and one hundred thousand percent off-limits.

Do you see that pile of utterly satisfied good over there in the corner, shuddering with happiness? Yep. That would be me. Because this book? ALL. OF. THE. SWOONS.

If slow burn, friends to lovers romance is your jam, this book is your catnip.

I had no idea what to expect when I started When I Need You. I’ve devoured Lorelei’s entire backlist and I’ve loved her dirty talking cowboys, but this series is completely different. I was a little nervous because this was the first book in the series that I’ve read. Don’t you judge me here! It’s a thing I do, mkay? There’s a reason to my madness….sometimes. I can happily report that I had no issues picking right up with the characters and the entire Lund crew. The author does a phenomenal job making sure new readers are able to dive right in without any confusion. Now as for the book?

*happy shudder*

Where do I start?! Jensen Lund is a pro football player. Coming off a recent injury that almost cost him his career, he’s come to realize that meaningless hookups are no longer what he wants. A hot tumble in bed is great, but gets lonely in the long run. Unfortunately the first woman to catch his attention and hold it for the long haul is also someone that breaks every single one of his three dating rules.

Rowan Michaels broke every single one of my dating rules. Every. Single. One. So it was a good thing we’d come to an agreement. Just friends. Nothing more.

Rowan Michaels is a single mom, a cheerleader for The Vikings, and completely over professional athletes. If there’s anything her son’s deadbeat father taught her, it’s they’re not reliable. But when she learns that the sinfully sexy Jensen is her next door neighbor, temptations proves to be hard. And when Jensen is determined to prove her insecurities and judgements wrong. That doesn’t mean he’s also not determined to prove that their friendship deserves a chance to be something more.

I’m very good at two things that begin with the letter F, Ro. The first is football. The second … doesn’t have a damn thing to do with being friends.”

Can I just tell you how much I loved Jensen? I don’t even have the words here, people. The man is just perfect. The unlikely friendship that Rowan and Jensen form is brimming with sexual tension and I thought that it may kill me with the slow burn. Yet it was so delicious watching these two fight the obvious attraction; Rowan more than Jensen.

Admit we’re more than friends, Rowan.”
“We’re more than friends, Jensen.”
“Tell me you missed me, sweetheart.”
“I missed you, sweetheart.”

Between the rest of the Lund family, Rowan’s adorable son, and the swoony romance, I had a goofy smile on my face the entire time reading this book. I fell harder and harder for Jensen with every page. I’m telling you, guys, it just doesn’t get more perfect than this man and his patience of a saint when it came to Rowan and her (justifiable) fears and insecurities.

She needed more time. I could give her that. For her, I’d learned patience. Because I knew she was worth the wait.

Throw in an archaic no fraternization rule between cheerleaders and football players, and it’s more than just friendship on the line for Rowan. But man oh man, was it ever satisfying watching her fall harder and harder for Jensen.

When I Need You was exactly what I needed. It was light-hearted, romantic, and deliciously fun. It was full of swoon and steam and had a smile on my face from beginning to finish. I was about to break into a cheer just to get these two together quicker. There was no crazy drama, no filler; every page had purpose. It was romantic perfection. I’m not sure how I haven’t read this series before, but I’m certainly rectifying that mistake immediately. If you’re looking for a sweet, easy read full of romance and a hero that’s simply to die for, look no further!

Jensen Lund. I am so crazy for you I don’t know what to do with it.”

THE NEED YOU SERIES

WHAT YOU NEED | JUST WHAT I NEEDED | ALL YOU NEED | WHEN I NEED YOU

Enter HERE for a chance to win any one (1) paperback from the NEED YOU series!

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#DGRFave & Review: The Brightest Sunset by Aly Martinez

July 24, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

THE BRIGHTEST SUNSET
Series: The Darkest Sunrise Duet
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Aly Martinez
Release Date: July 27, 2017

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me.
Bullshit.
Words destroyed me.
“I’m sorry. She didn’t make it.”
“Daddy, he can’t breathe!”
“There’s nothing more we can do for your son.”
Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me.
Lies.
Those syllables and letters became my executioner. I told myself that, if I didn’t acknowledge the pain and the fear, they would have no power over me. But, as the years passed, the hate and the anger left behind began to control me.
Two words—that was all it took to plunge my life into darkness.
“He’s gone.”
In the end, it was four soft, silky words that gave me hope of another sunrise.
“Hi. I’m Charlotte Mills.”

AMAZON

he’s shown me that there doesn’t have to be light for something to be beautiful. Love can grow in the darkness

How do you even begin to review a book that touched you on such a visceral level that you don’t think you’ll ever forget it? How do you put those feelings into words that can even begin to do a book the justice it so deserves? How do you attempt to relay everything that this book was without giving anything away? You don’t. Because it’s impossible.

The sun still hung bright in the sky, but midnight fell all the same. And, in that moment, I feared I’d never escape it again. The darkness was going to be my executioner. It was going to crush me, suffocate me, and then devour me.

The Brightest Sunset concludes The Darkest Sunrise duet and man did it go out with a bang. Prepare for a story that will keep you up well into the night and I hope you have plenty of tissues handy because Aly Martinez will not just tug at your heart strings, she’ll rip them to shreds like the sadist that she surely is.

I won’t tell you what happens, because if you haven’t read the first book, my review will be one giant spoiler. But what I can tell you is that Porter Reese stole my heart and I never want it back. Here was a hero that had none of the typical frills. He wasn’t an overbearing alpha. He wasn’t intense or demanding. He was just an amazing man. A man that loves fiercely. A man that will make any sacrifice for the ones he loves. A man that isn’t afraid to feel and show those feelings. A man that’s an alpha but not in the obvious way.

If you were on the fence with Charlotte in book one, you won’t be in this one. You really get to see the soft beneath the cold front exterior. You get to see a woman that finally finds her voice and the way to use it. A woman that finally discovers what love means and how to fight for it. A woman that’s every bit deserving of an incredible man like Porter.

Aly puts this couple through hell and back. I was in hell right along with them. I have never had so much anxiety reading a book. I bit my nails to shreds. I sobbed my way through the entire last third. I was a sobbing, sniveling pile of goo and I loved every devastating second of it.

The Brightest Sunset was a stunning, emotional, unforgettable story of second chances and love beyond all odds. It was phenomenal. It was beautiful. It was everything.

He’d made the darkness a beautiful place filled with understanding and acceptance.

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Jenn’s Review: (Glamour) BEDTIME STORY by Skye Warren

July 22, 2017 by ·

GLAMOUR
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Authors: Anthology
Release Date: July 18, 2017

Once upon a time…

Remember the fairy tales your parents read to you when you were little?

These are NOT those fairy tales.

From modern day royalty to metaphorical dragons, contemporary castles to sexy heroes, these bestselling authors twist tales as old as time into something new.

GLAMOUR contains eight exclusive never-before-seen novellas that each have an HEA… because they all lived happily ever after.

Includes the following retellings…

KNOT by Lili St. Germain
A Rapunzel story

RED HOT PURSUIT by A.L. Jackson
A Little Red Riding Hood story

RIPPLES by Aleatha Romig
A Prince and the Pauper story

IN A STRANGER’S BED by Sophie Jordan
A Goldilocks story

BEDTIME STORY by Skye Warren
A Sleeping Beauty story

ROYAL MATTRESS by Nicola Rendell
A Princess and the Pea story

MUSIC BOX GIRL by Sierra Simone
A Twelve Dancing Princesses story

BROKEN HARP by Nora Flite
A Jack and the Beanstalk story

AMAZON | iBOOKS

 

Review of Bedtime Story by Skye Warren

Lost. Utterly and irrevocably lost in Skye’s words. Every. Damn. Time. It doesn’t matter how short the book is, or how long the book is, or if it never ends. It’s inevitable.

Jessica. We meet Jessica in The King. She is a single mom who has had shit handed to her, but she is just trying to make the most of it. She was sold as a young girl to the mafia and we can only guess what she went through. This short story begins when she is pulled over at the side of the road and she meets the sheriff. Jessica has the ability to look on the bright side despite what she has been through, but she still has trust issues.
à la Mode St. » fashion

This was the part where I should leave. Where I should tell this man, who’s clearly good down to his bones, that I’m bad news. Where I ignore everything but survival, because that’s the only way I’ve survived this long. Instead he asks me to stay, and I do. 

à la Mode St. » fashionFinn. He was a surprise to me. I loved how he had a good side with a bad past. He was no stranger to the mafia life but because of an incident in his life, he decided to take the road less traveled and became the sheriff of a small town. He is determined to stay on the straight and narrow, but he cannot resist the temptation that is Jessica. I loved how he immediately wanted to take care of Jessica and her son because he is the type of guy that just wants to do the right thing. These two were just perfect for each other.
à la Mode St. » fashion

She makes me crazy, and once upon a time I sought that out, wanting to feel wild and on edge. Not for a long time, though. These past years had been about isolation. About driving down dark country roads alone. And all along, I was looking for her.
Without even knowing it, looking for her.

à la Mode St. » fashionWhat I loved the most about this short story is how much Skye made me love these characters so quickly. I loved the chemistry between these two, but it wasn’t insta-love. These two lonely souls find each other and have an instant connection (without the cheese). Of course, the short wasn’t long enough for me (duh!).

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Review: Wrecked by JB Salsbury

July 21, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

WRECKED
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: JB Salsbury
Release Date: July 18, 2017

Wrecked is the new standalone novel of deliciously dark, deeply emotional contemporary romancefrom J.B. Salsbury, the New York Times bestselling author of Split and The Fighting Series.

When you can’t trust yourself, how can you ask anyone else to?

It’s been months since Aden Colt left the Army, and still the memories haunt him. When he moved into a boat off the California coast, he thought he’d found the perfect place to escape life.

Then Sawyer shows up, and turns his simple life upside down.

Beautiful and sophisticated, she seems out of place in this laidback beach town. Something is pushing her to experience everything she can—including Aden. But as much as he wants her, starting a relationship with Sawyer puts them both at risk.

For Aden, the past doesn’t stay there; it shows up unexpectedly, uncontrollably, and doesn’t care whose life it wrecks.

AMAZON | iBOOKS

I look at you and I forget.” “What do you forget?” He leans in and brushes his lips so softly against mine. “Everything.”

It’s official, I’m totally and completely wrecked. Ruined. My heart hurts because the book almost crushed it with its incredibly powerful and emotional story. My eyes hurt because I cried hysterically through the entire last third. I’m moved down to the marrow of my bones. YES. It was THAT good.

No seriously. I don’t remember crying so hard reading a book before and I downright sobbed. SOBBED.

So what made this book so good? The story. It was simple yet emotional. Gripping yet not over the top. The characters. Both Aden and Sawyer are incredibly multilayered characters filled with so much depth, it practically overflows from the pages. But I’d be lying if I told you that Aden didn’t steal my heart. I had honest to god shivers reading the prologue. SHIVERS, people.

Dead bodies litter the floor.
Shock overtakes me.
My hands shake but I feel nothing.
Only one thought pumps furiously through my mind. It should’ve been me.

A soldier riddled with nightmares that he can’t escape. A survivor burdened with guilt and rage. A man filled with emptiness and regrets. He escapes in the only way he knows how, at the bottom of a bottle. Secluding himself from everything and everyone living on his uncles boat, he doesn’t expect a beautiful stranger to make him want to live again.

Scared?” I look up at him and get lost in the warmth of his gaze.
“No. I feel safe with you.”
“Yeah?” His lips part and his breath dances across my lips. “So I’m not a stranger anymore.”
“No.” I run my hands up the back of his neck into his hair and slide against his hard body. “You make me feel like I can do anything.”
His eyebrows drop low and his jaw ticks. “And you make me forget.”

Sawyer made a promise to her terminally sick twin sister; a promise that brings her to California and stumbling into a stranger that changes everything for her.

Because soon enough I’ll be out of his life and I’ll go back to being Sawyer, the kind of girl who would never turn the head of a guy like Aden, and I’ll be able to go on living my sheltered safe life knowing what it’s like to truly live. That is, if I survive it.

I expected a ton of angst with this book but that’s not what I got at all. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not exactly a light read but it’s also not filled with anything extra to take away from the character driven story. You really get to know Aden and Sawyer and what makes them tick. You get to see them be there for each other during some of the most difficult parts of their lives. You get to see them hold each other up and slowly fall in love. It was beautiful and touching, emotional and sweet.

I don’t want to forget you.”
He pulls his shirt off over his head, his wide muscular chest on display and tensing with anticipation. “I’ll make sure you never will.” He pushes down his shorts and closes in until the warmth of his bare skin presses against mine. “I’ll mark your fucking soul.”

Wrecked is very appropriately titled. Both of these characters were anything if not a little broken but in completely different ways. It wasn’t dark or full of drama. It wasn’t angsty or full of gratuitous sex scenes. It was just two broken people learning to make themselves whole together. It was a beautiful and memorable romance that I won’t forget for a long, long while, and a book I can’t recommend enough.

 

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Review: Blackmailing The Bad Girl by Nina Croft

July 21, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

BLACKMAILING THE BAD GIRL
Series: Cutting Loose #2
Author: Nina Croft
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 12, 2017

Cynical CEO, Nik Masterton, believes he’s finally met a woman who isn’t interested in his money…until she vanishes with a hefty amount of it. He’s been searching for her ever since and has finally found her doing a stint in Holloway prison for stealing…from someone else. Clearly, he’s just one of many. Now she’s coming out, and it’s time for a little payback.

After two years in prison, Summer Delaney is determined she’s never going back. While she had good reasons for doing what she did, it’s time to move on to a new life and earn an honest living. Unfortunately, there’s a glitch in her plan, and he’s waiting at the gate as she comes out.

Nik isn’t above using blackmail to make Summer work for him until he decides just how he’ll get his revenge. But this time they’re both determined to keep their distance. Right until the inconvenient attraction explodes between them…

Each book in the Cutting Loose series is a standalone story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Series Order:
Book #1 Falling for the Bad Girl
Book #2 Blackmailing the Bad Girl

AMAZON

What do you want, Summer?”
“I want you to be my coming-out present.” She placed her empty wineglass on the floor and straightened. “After all, you’ve been my coming-out nightmare. Let’s balance the books. Let’s pretend I’m not a thief. Let’s go back three years to when I kissed you.”

I was immediately hooked on this series when I first met the “bad girls” in Falling for the Bad Girl. I was thrilled to get my grabby little hands on Summer’s book (and I’m seriously salivating for Darcy’s story). The premise of the story immediately grabbed me. Three years ago, Summer and Nik shared a passionate kiss that could have led to so much more…until she disappeared, taking a large amount of Nik’s money with her. He never ceased looking for her and he’s finally got her. Summer is about to be released from prison and Nik has plans in mind for her.

Still bitter from an ugly divorce, Nik thought he finally found a woman that was interested in him and not his money. After all, Summer believed that he was part of the maintenance staff when she worked at his company. It isn’t until she disappears with a hefty amount of his money that her lies truly hit him. He’ll make her earn it the honest way now, by making her work for his company as his personal assistant. He’ll just have to ignore that aggravating attraction that never ceased brewing between them.

Not everything is as it seems with Summer, but her secrets are her own. She’s not about to share her reasons with a man that’s basically blackmailing her into working for him. But maybe if she can work out their annoying sexual chemistry out of her system, she can finally move from the ghost of the memory of the kiss they shared. But nothing ever works out as it’s planned and things soon begin to get deliciously complicated between them.

While I loved the chemistry between Nik and Summer, I couldn’t help feeling like something was missing for me. There wasn’t anything about the story that truly grabbed me and I struggled to truly connect to the characters. They both had a great backstory but it just wasn’t enough. I couldn’t place my finger on what it was exactly that was missing, but it was. It was an enjoyable read, but not my favorite from this author.

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Blog Tour & Jenn’s Review: Wicked Intentions by @JTGeissinger

July 18, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

WICKED INTENTIONS
Series: Wicked Games #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: JT Geissinger
Release Date: July 11, 2017

In the Caribbean for his best friend’s wedding, ex special-ops officer and security expert Ryan McLean meets a beautiful woman in the hotel bar. Their connection is immediate and intense, and they spend a passionate night together with pleasure as their only goal.

But when Ryan wakes the following morning to discover the beautiful woman has vanished, along with millions worth of jewels from the safe of the Saudi prince staying in the suite next door, he realizes their meeting wasn’t accidental and becomes determined to find her.

A notorious thief known to authorities only as the Dragonfly, Mariana Lora has one final job to complete before she’s free from the oath that bound her to a life of crime, but the sexy-as-hell Marine she spent one explosive tropical night with is hot on her heels at every turn. She has to outwit him to stay out of jail, but fighting their magnetic attraction soon becomes a game neither one of them can resist.

When Mariana’s last job goes dangerously wrong and she needs Ryan’s help to survive, he has to decide if their game of cat and mouse is only a game, or if he can trust this beautiful thief with something no woman has ever stolen: his heart.

AMAZON | iBOOKS | B&N | Kobo | Amazon Paperback | GOOGLE PLAY

If I could give only ONE BOOK RECOMMENDATION this whole year, it would be THIS BOOK. Holy Book Perfection. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, JT Geissinger is a genius. You know those authors that are underestimated and not nearly enough people know about them or read their books? That’s JT Geissinger.

I read Wicked Sexy last year and was blown away. After reading Wicked Intentions, my brain and heart and body are bursting!! These books are the whole package (pun intended). What I love about this book? EVERYTHING. It seriously has everything you ever want in a perfect book. The feels. The humor. The sex. The dirty talk. The amazing story. The words. The dark. The light. All wrapped up in one perfectly packaged book.
à la Mode St. » fashion

I discovered love was nothing like a fairy tale. It was more like a bad poem written in indecipherable meter by a drunken poet who couldn’t keep a job, so he lived with his mother his whole life while writing the most outrageous roadblocks and outcomes, based on nothing but the whims of his own inebriated brain. It had an awkward beginning, a wildly improbable middle, and an awful, painful end. And nothing rhymed.
Love was the worst.
Inconveniently, it was also the best.

à la Mode St. » fashionMariana. BAD. ASS. HEROINE. It’s impossible for JT to write a weak heroine. Mariana is a genius thief. The best. She has a sordid past and was raised to become the best thief the world has ever known. Riddled with secrets, she steals in order to keep herself safe. She meets Ryan when she is on a mission, and she has to seduce him, but the tables turn and he ends up seducing her instead, and THE CHASE IS ON!!!
à la Mode St. » fashion

“Wrap your legs around my back,” I say, panting too, “and tell me how much you hate me while I make you come.”
Her thighs become a vise around my waist. Her eyes burn. “I do hate you.”
I flex my hips, and her lashes flutter. She whispers, “I do.”

à la Mode St. » fashion
Ryan. BEST. HERO. EVER. JT writes the best heroes!! I loved Ryan’s natural humor and laid-back personality. But at the same time, he is a genius. I love all the geniuses!!! Ryan is irresistible. I am just grinning and giggling thinking about him. He is part of a top-notch security firm that is very well-connected. Mariana continues to underestimate him in the book, but Ryan doesn’t give up on her. His confidence. His swagger. His humor. Gah!
He melted my mind
à la Mode St. » fashion

He comes like he does everything else, one thousand percent committed. Crying out until he’s hoarse, praising me, making me feel beautiful, like fairy tales could be true and happily every afters might be an actual possibility. When it’s over and he’s spent, lying motionless and panting, his chest slick with sweat, I sit back on my heels and just look at him. I drink him in with my eyes, memorizing every golden line of his body.

Because in some dark part of my heart, no matter how much I want to believe in them, I know that fairy tales aren’t true.

à la Mode St. » fashion
Ryan chases Mariana in this book, and this chase is delicious. Mariana cannot resist him every time he catches her (who could?!). It’s a game of trust issues. The beginning of this book is perfect. The middle is perfect. The end is perfect.

Are you annoyed yet about how much I love this book?

My work here is done.

 Want to read the other standalones in the Wicked Games series? Find out more about WICKED BEAUTIFUL and WICKED SEXY below!

About WICKED BEAUTIFUL

WickedBeautiful.Ebook.v4.Amazon

Life coach and best-selling author Victoria Price has it all: a successful career, fabulous friends, a fantastic penthouse in Manhattan. What she doesn’t have—and doesn’t want—is a husband. Fifteen years ago her high school flame broke her heart so badly she swore she’d never love again. Now she makes millions teaching other women how to be just like her: a ruthless bitch.

Drop-dead sexy restauranteur and infamous playboy Parker Maxwell has only three rules for the women he dates: no questions about his past, no expectations for the future, and no spending the night. When he meets Victoria, however, he’s willing to break his own rules if it means sating the explosive desire she arouses in him. What he doesn’t know is that the alluring Victoria Price used to be the mousy Isabel Diaz, the girl he deflowered and dumped long ago.

Presented with a perfect opportunity for revenge, Victoria decides the game is on. But when her connection with Parker proves more than just skin deep, she has to make a choice: continue with her plan for payback, or risk her career, her reputation, and her heart by taking a second chance on love?

Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | Amazon Paperback | Google Play

About WICKED SEXY
WickedEbook.v3.Amazon

A badass ex-Special Ops officer and a smartass hacker fight a dangerous enemy…and a blistering attraction to each other.

Connor Hughes is an ex-special ops officer, CEO of Metrix Security, and bonafide badass. His private security firm is renowned for its effectiveness. He’s renowned for his lethal precision and iron self-control. But when the former Marine meets a gorgeous young hacker with a mouth as smart as her brain, his control unravels in ways he never could have predicted.

Tabitha West is a genius MIT dropout with a bad attitude, an obsession with Hello Kitty and piercings in unmentionable places. Tabby amuses herself by outwitting the most secure technology systems on the planet. Known in hacker circles as Polaroid due to her photographic memory, she’s as secretive as she is accustomed to working alone. So when Connor decides she’s the only one who can help him catch a cyber criminal intent on taking down one of his clients, she tells him exactly where he can stick it.

But when the cyber criminal turns out to be the Hannibal Lecter of computer crime—and a dark presence from Tabby’s past—Tabby and Connor are drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse. They quickly find themselves fighting not only their common enemy, but also an explosive desire that threatens to consume them.

When the stakes are this high and the game this deadly, will falling in love be the most dangerous move of all?

Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | Amazon Paperback | Google Play

A former headhunter, J.T. Geissinger is the author of more than a dozen novels in contemporary romance, paranormal romance, and romantic suspense.

She is the recipient of the Prism Award for Best First Book, the Golden Quill Award for Best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, and is a two-time finalist for the RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America®. Her work has also finaled in the Booksellers’ Best, National Readers’ Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.

Join her Facebook reader’s group, Geissinger’s Gang, to take part in weekly Wine Wednesday live chats and giveaways, find out more information about works in progress, have access to exclusive excerpts and contests, and get advance reader copies of her upcoming releases.

Website | Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram

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#DGRFave & Review: HOT Valor by @LynnRayeHarris

July 17, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

HOT ADDICTION
Series: Hostile Operations Team #11
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Author: Lynn Raye Harris
Release Date: July 18, 2017

A new standalone romance from New York Times Bestselling Author Lynn Raye Harris. Sexy, action-packed, and thrilling!

Colonel John “Viper” Mendez searches for a ghost from his past… and when he finds her, nothing will be the same!

They told him she was dead. They lied…

Colonel John “Viper” Mendez is having the second-worst day of his life. Accused of using the Hostile Operations Team to assassinate a foreign official, he’s gone from being a respected military black-ops commander to a fugitive in the space of an hour. On the run, hunted, and stripped of his honor, Mendez has nowhere to go–and few people he can trust.

Russian spy Ekaterina “Kat” Kasharin is a carbon copy of the woman Mendez once loved. Twenty-one years ago, Valentina vanished from his life. Kat claims to be her twin–but Kat’s lying. Ordered by her superiors in Russian Intelligence to abandon the man she loved–or watch him die–Kat had no choice but to obey.

But twenty-one years is a long time to love a man from afar, and Kat won’t stand by as a traitor plans his death–even if it means risking her heart and her life to save him. She can never reveal her true identity–or the secrets she keeps locked away. Secrets he would hate her for. Working with him is strictly business, and she won’t let emotions get in the way. But the attraction between them is smoking hot–and it’s not long before they’re burning up the sheets.

When the truth comes out, the mission implodes. Everything Mendez thought he knew was a lie. He’ll have to pull it together though before a deadly foe succeeds in taking away all he loves. By the time he realizes Kat might be most important of all? It could be too late to save her…

The Hostile Operations Team is a covert military Black Ops unit. Their motto is Where None Dare. H.O.T. operators come from all branches of the military. The only criteria for membership: they must be the best of the best!

AMAZON | B&N | iBOOKS | KOBO

She was an itch beneath his skin. A mosquito buzzing in his ear. A compulsion that threatened to tip across the line into addiction.

This. Book. GAH! It was worth every single second of the wait. Mendez was everything. EVERYTHING.
Harris can write a hot military hero like no one else. Is it any wonder why I’m addicted to this series. It’s become my crack. Pure and simple.

Lies, scandals, secrets, and espionage. All of it explodes in this incredibly powerful second chance romance. It was a heart pounding, action packed, sizzling story of love lost and found. I don’t even have words for how much I loved it, but I’m going to try.

Colonel John “Viper” Mendez has always been the man behind the scenes. The commander of HOT that always set their missions in motion and oversaw things from his desk. But his time in his position earned him a number of enemies and they’re ready to collect. When he gets set up to make it seem like he was using the Hostile Operations Team to assassinate a foreign official, all bets are off. Mendez is not a man that runs from his responsibilities, but he can’t catch the ones responsible from his jail cell. With the help of an slinkily ally, Ian Black, Mendez gets a blast from his past he never expected.

He was no longer commander of HOT. He was a fugitive with a price on his head. He was also a man with a past waiting for the answers to a mystery he’d never stopped thinking about.

Twenty one years ago he fell hard and fast for a beautiful Russian spy, only to lose her and never recover from her death. Valentina is the one woman that he will never forget or get over, so when he meets her carbon copy claiming to be her twin sister, Kat, sent to assist him on his mission, it’s like getting hit by a two by four of memories he can’t hide from.

Every time he looked at her, it was like being plowed into by a high-speed train. He was flattened, gutted, gasping for air.

Not all is as it seems with Kat. Twenty one years ago she was forced to give up the man she loved or watch him die, she made a choice that she never quite recovered from. She’s hardened, jaded, and even more deadly than the woman that Mendez knew as Valentina. Now she’s Kat and she’ll protect the man she never stopped loving even at the cost of her own life, but her identity is a secret that she’ll take with her to her grave.

You could run from your past. You could put years and distance between you and the things that haunted you. But you never got over them. You never got free.

I love a second chance romance. But when that second chance romance is between a special ops commander and a Russian spy he believed dead for 21 years? Holy mother of everything! It’s utterly delicious. Mendez struggles with his instant connection to Kat. He can’t understand if it’s something beyond her uncanny resemblance to the woman he loved, or Kat is keeping something from him. Theirs is a relationship that’s based on secrets and mistrust, and yet it crackles with enough chemistry to spark an explosion. I absolutely loved the two of them together. And as you get more and more of Kat’s past and the reasons why she did what she did along with what she’s been through for the past years, it becomes harder to stay angry at her. This is an incredibly strong woman that’s been through so much.

As for the story? HOT Valor was absolutely explosive! It was the perfect blend of action, suspense, and sizzling hot romance. It was delicious. Addicting. A non-stop action packed ride from beginning to finish. If you’ve been eager for more of Ian Black, you’ll be salivating with this book because the mystery finally gets revealed and it’s a doozy! I think I’ll go insane waiting for his book.

In the meantime, we get a sneak peek into the next couple and I’m already itching for their story.

If you’re a fan of this series, you simply cannot miss this book. It’s an absolute must read. Mendez lives up to every single promise and then some.

READ THE SERIES IN ORDER

HOT PURSUIT
AMAZON | MY REVIEW

HOT MESS
AMAZON | MY REVIEW

HOT PACKAGE
AMAZON

DANGEROUSLY HOT
AMAZON | MY REVIEW

HOT SHOT
AMAZON | MY REVIEW

HOT REBEL
AMAZON | MY REVIEW

HOT ICE
AMAZON | MY REVIEW

HOT & BOTHERED
AMAZON | MY REVIEW

HOT PROTECTOR
AMAZON | MY REVIEW

HOT ADDICTION
AMAZON | MY REVIEW

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Review: Cocky Client by Whitney G

July 16, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

COCKY CLIENT
Series: Steamy Coffee Collection #3
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Author: Whitney G
Release Date: July 13, 2017

Today is officially the worst day of my life…

I woke up five hours late after a reckless one-night stand with the sexiest, cockiest, and most arrogant man I’ve ever met. (And this asshole actually left a note: “I think you were lying to me about being “experienced” last night. You orgasmed three times, and that was before we made it to your bedroom. I also find it hard to believe you “usually wear silk or lingerie.” Your drawers are all full of cotton granny panties–The best man you’ve ever fucked… )

My top two PR clients left me for my number one competitor, my roommate accidentally bleached my best suit, and my favorite coffee shop was shut down for “health concerns.”

Still, none of those things dimmed my excitement for what was supposed to be the best four o’clock signing session of my career. I was on the verge of signing the highest paying client in my company’s history, taking on a so-called “impossible” job that no publicist had been able to handle.

But at four o’clock, there was no athlete, television personality, or celebrity who showed up. Instead, that sexy, arrogant one-night stand stepped into my
office with his familiar panty-wetting smirk and introduced himself as my new, cocky client…

AMAZON

I shut my eyes as I surrendered complete control, as I realized that I was going to let this man do whatever he wanted to do to me for the rest of the night…

Whenever I need a dose of witty and smutty romance that’s short but still entirely satisfying, Whitney’s Steamy Coffee Collection is a no brainer. And they all happen to be enemies to lovers trope, which is my catnip! So, #Winning

Cocky Client brings together an arrogant billionaire and a sassy PR professional and boy do the sparks fly!

Penelope caves into her friend’s demand to spice up her non existent love life by having the hottest sex of her life with a complete stranger. For one night she can forget that her ex is trying to steal all her clients and her job has been her number one priority for too long. But when morning comes, all she’s left with are the sizzling memories and a snarky (but still sexy) “You’re welcome” letter from her one night stand.

When she learns that her one night stand is her firm’s brand new client, she’s not exactly thrilled. The man refused to give his name and hounded the firm for weeks. She had all intentions to turn down the anonymous client, until he agreed to her assistant spur of the moment astronomical fee. How can a girl turn down a client for $3 MIL? She can’t. So she does the impossible. She takes on NY’s public relations nightmare.

Ryan is more known for his womanizing ways and playboy persona than his successful business. He’s a notorious bad boy that a normal PR company won’t touch with a ten foot pole. He has a chip on his shoulder and an ego bigger than Manhattan. Not to mention the man has seen her naked. What’s a girl to do? Give it her all, duh!

As with the predecessors, this was a ridiculously fun novella. The sparks are immediate between Penelope and Ryan and only burn hotter and hotter with each new interaction. I loved Ryan’s dirty mouth and Penelope’s smart one. This was a shorty but a goodie. I’d have loved an epilogue to really seal the deal here, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

DON’T MISS THE FIRST TWO STEAMY NOVELLAS IN THIS SERIES!

PURCHASE | READ MY REVIEW

PURCHASE | READ MY REVIEW

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Review: Two Is A Lie by Pam Godwin

July 12, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

TWO IS A LIE
Series: Tangled Lies #2 (trilogy)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Pam Godwin
Release Date: July 11, 2017

Two lies.
Two men who don’t share.

I never stopped loving Cole. Not when he left me. Not when he disappeared for three years. Not when he crashed back into my life in a violent explosion of testosterone and fury.
His sudden reappearance questions everything I thought I knew, including how I came to love another man.

Trace is an intoxicating breeze of seduction over ice. My rock. My second chance at forever.
And he’s committed to annihilating the competition.

The battle that ensues wrenches me back and forth between them.
Fighting and fucking.
Resisting and submitting.

Together, they entangle me in a web of lies, rivalry, and desire that weaves as deeply as their devotion to me.

I love two men, and if I can only have one, I choose none.

The TANGLED LIES series must be read in order.
One is a Promise
Two is a Lie
Three is a War

 

AMAZON

The vibrating silhouette of my past paces a few feet away, staring at me like an ethereal presence.
Cole.
My first love. My greatest loss.
My second chance stands beside me, his expression as naked as his upper body, chilling in the cold mist.
Trace.
He’s supposed to be my new beginning. My future.

Have you ever read a book with a feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach? A book that kept you equal parts riveted to the pages and utterly terrified of what will come next? A book that gave you so much anxiety you felt like you may need therapy after it? A book that you can’t stop thinking about days after you finished reading? A book that gave you indigestion, heartburn, anxiety, and a case of the day drinking? Hmmm? HAVE YOU? Because I just did and I want my mommy!
I was sucked in with One is a Promise but it’s nothing compared to what Pam Godwin did to me with this book. NOTHING. I have no words to describe the level of anxiety it brought me to. This, my friends, is why I avoid love triangles like venereal disease. But practicing abstinence. As in I won’t read the damn things. But this is Pam here. And I don’t care if she drive me to drink and rip my hair out, because I’ll read everything she writes. Period. Even when I’m reading like this…
But I digress as usual. So let’s bring it back to the subject at hand. This book. GAH!

I don’t understand the enigma of love, only that it holds me hostage, cares for and worships me, abandons and breaks me, and always lures me back for more. I’m greedy for it.

Danni is now faced with an impossible choice between two men that she loves equally and recklessly. Trace was her second chance. Her new beginning. But when her long believed dead finance is back in the picture, their lives get turned upside down. Thrown into a tug of war between two alpha males that will do everything and anything to be with her, Danni doesn’t know what to do. She can’t choose between the men that both hold her heart. They couldn’t be more different from each other, but one thing they share is their unquestionable and fiery love for Danni.

We’re connected by something precious, something bigger than ourselves. It’s led us through a million miles of separation and death and unimaginable pain. Where it takes us next, I don’t know. 

Now let me tell you, if this book won’t drive you to drink, I don’t know what will. For serious. But if there’s one thing it will do, is make you feel. Too much so.

I will say that some will hate some of the decisions that Danni made here. This girl, though? I completely understood. Stuck between two flames, she made the decision to put them all on equal footing and start from the beginning. To date both men and see where her heart leads. But how do you choose between the man that stole your heart in the past and the man that owns it in the present?

As much as you want to judge her for her choices, you simply can’t. I went back and forth between Cole and Trace for the entire book. And in the end, all I can tell you is that I’m #TeamTorn. It’s simply impossible.

Every time you let me into your body, it feels like redemption. You’re my faith, Danni. My religion.”

I’ll also tell you that this book had one of the hottest sex scenes I have ever read in my entire life. I’m not even kidding. You’ll never look at scuba diving the same ever again.
When the secrets that Trace and Cole are keeping from Danni begin to unravel, no one is safe, especially not my sanity. Because Oh My GOD!!! That freaking ending. I don’t think I’ll survive the end of this trilogy. I’m not even sure I’ll survive the wait for book three. So in the interim, I’ll be that pathetic looking thing rocking herself in a dark corner, clutching her wine and quietly sobbing.

THE TRILOGY

ONE IS A PROMISE

One promise.
One forever.

One look and I knew Cole was mine. My dark rebel in leather. My powerhouse of passion, devastating smiles, and impulsiveness.
When his job sends him overseas, he promises to return to me.
A promise that’s destroyed in the most irrevocable way.

Two years later, an arrogant suit invades my heartbroken loneliness.

Clean-cut and stern, Trace is everything Cole wasn’t.
At first, he’s a job that will rescue my dance company. But as he intrudes on my life, our hostile relationship evolves.
He knows I’m still in love with Cole, but his dedication is my undoing.

Then a catastrophic moment changes everything.

Promises resurface.
Lies entangle.
And an impossible choice shatters my world.

I love two men, and I can only have one.

TWO IS A LIE

Two lies.

Two men who don’t share.

I never stopped loving Cole. Not when he left me. Not when he disappeared for three years. Not when he crashed back into my life in a violent explosion of testosterone and fury.

His sudden reappearance questions everything I thought I knew, including how I came to love another man.

Trace is an intoxicating breeze of seduction over ice. My rock. My second chance at forever.

And he’s committed to annihilating the competition.

The battle that ensues wrenches me back and forth between them.

Fighting and fucking.

Resisting and submitting.

Together, they entangle me in a web of lies, rivalry, and desire that weaves as deeply as their devotion to me.

I love two men, and if I can only have one, I choose none.

THREE IS A WAR – Releasing August 29, 2017

Three means war.

Three sides vying for forever.

Cole.

My first love.

The bad boy with the dangerous smile and passionate temper draws attention like a lit fuse on dynamite. But his dark molten eyes spark only for me.

Trace.

My second chance.

Over six feet of Norse god in a tailored suit, he calculates every move and seizes my hungry breaths with an iron fist.

Me.

The free-spirited dancer, torn between two men with no resolution in sight.

I tried leaving, staying, refusing, and surrendering.

What options do I have left?  

I love two men, and I do the only thing I can. I fight

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Pam Godwin, lives in the Midwest with her husband, their two children, and a foulmouthed parrot. When she ran away, she traveled fourteen countries across five continents, attended three universities, and married the vocalist of her favorite rock band.

Java, tobacco, and dark romance novels are her favorite indulgences, and might be considered more unhealthy than her aversion to sleeping, eating meat, and dolls with blinking eyes.

E-mail → pamgodwinauthor@gmail.com

Website | Amazon | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Bookbub 

Other books by Pam Godwin

Deliver Series:

http://pamgodwin.com/book/deliver/

DELIVER | VANQUISH | DISCLAIM

 

Trilogy of Eve Series:

http://pamgodwin.com/book/trilogyofeve/

DEAD OF EVE (#1) | HEART OF EVE (#1.5) | BLOOD OF EVE (#2) | DAWN OF EVE (#3)

 

Stand-alones:

DARK NOTES

DIRTY TIES

BENEATH THE BURN

INCENTIVE

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Review: Shattered King by Sherilee Gray

July 3, 2017 by · Leave a Comment

SHATTERED KING
Series: Lawless Kings #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Sherilee Gray
Release Date: June 27, 2017

What if the man you love hated you more with every breath he took?

He’s out to get revenge for a crime he didn’t commit…

Hunter King just got out of prison. Incarcerated for three years though an innocent man, his rage against the people who put him there knows no bounds. First up on his list for vengeance: the woman who betrayed him years ago. The woman he loved fiercely, the one bright light in his otherwise hard, ruthless life. She has information he needs. And he’s going to kidnap her, hold her hostage, in order to get it. But one look into Lulu’s eyes unleashes the true beast within. Hunter’s never hated anyone this deeply, or wanted any woman this badly.

Lulu had no choice: Either help send Hunter to prison, or see him destroyed. She couldn’t do that to the man she loved. Couldn’t do it to the father of her child. But Hunter was locked away before he had a chance to learn about his son—and a hard layer of despair has formed around his heart that she’s desperate to crack. And if Hunter is to give himself and Lulu a second chance at love, he needs to find a way past his darkest demons.

AMAZON

I’d always known he’d come for me. It was only a matter of time, and I’d known there sure as hell wouldn’t be a happy reunion.

First of all, don’t let my rating fool you, because I enjoyed this book. Quite a bit. And while there were a few things that happened that ultimately brought my rating down, I’m hooked on this series and have discovered a new to me author that I’m eager for more books from.

My prince certainly didn’t want to kiss me awake, rescuing me from three years of nightmares—no, he wanted to smother me in my sleep.

I love an angsty second chance romance, and Shattered King was one hell of a start to what looks to be a sexy and exciting series. I was immediately sucked into the story and spent the first half of the book glued to the pages.

A man sentenced to three years in prison for a crime he didn’t come in.
The woman that he loved beyond reason that he believes is responsible.
And a vendetta that continues to boil his blood to make those responsible for what happened to him pay.

Now out of prison, Hunter is working with his brother but his goal hasn’t changed. First on his list, the woman that betrayed him. Short after, her stepfather. He needs answers and he’s not above kidnapping Lulu, and holding her prisoner until she tells him exactly why she lied to him. But not all is as it seems. Lulu is holding some devastating secrets. Secrets that can change everything, but risk everything, including their lives.

I was riveted for the first half of the story. The animosity between Lulu and Hunter was palpable. She never stopped loving him, and he wants to stop wanting her. The years apart and the secrets and lies did nothing to diminish the chemistry between them. Admittedly, as much as I loved Hunter’s intensity, I also disliked how easy Lulu gave into him. At the same time, her love for him has never gone away and while the man today may hate her, she’s still devastatingly in love with him, so I also got it. As much as I wanted to judge her for her weaknesses, I understood why she did what she did.

As for Hunter? The man hit every single one of my alpha buttons. The man was pure sex on a stick.

You’re mine, Lulu. You’re not just inked on my skin, you’re under it, you’re twisted so deep inside me there’s no escaping it. I need to know you get that. Do you, baby?”

The second half is where the story began to fizzle a bit for me. While the sex was hot, it began to feel a bit more like filler. The story began to drag a bit and my interest began to wane. And while there is a lot that happens in the second half, I felt like most of it wasn’t really necessary to drive the plot forward.

The author did a great job introducing all of the secondary characters and setting up the next book. I’m already itching to get my grabby little hands on that spicy little number. I can tell you that I’m totally hooked on this series and can’t wait for more. This book may not have been a 5 star read for me, but it was a very solid 3.5 one. If angsty second chance romance is your catnip, I can’t recommend this one enough.

 

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