Some demons can’t be shaken off.

Some wounds won’t heal.

Until a pair of hazel eyes knocks you on your ass, and you realize it’s time to stop running.

A STAND-ALONE, ONE TO HOLD NOVEL. Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

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Stuart Knight had locked his heart up tight, but I was determined to break in and steal it.

Let me start by saying that even though the synopsis says it this book can be read as a standalone, and technically it can be, I wouldn’t recommend it. Although each book focuses on a different couple throughout this series, there’s still a whole lot of character and story development that continues through each book that would be lost on you if you read it on it’s own. I started this series with One to Love, and think I did the author a big disservice because there were certain elements in that book that were very much lost on me, until I read this book. And then I got it. I got what Tia is trying to do with this series and these characters and it just made me connect to it and like it that much more.

Don’t set your sights on me, Mariska.” Hazel eyes burned into mine. “When the time comes, I will leave.”

Stuart Knight. Just his name alone sounds delicious. Oh how I love me those broody and wounded warriors. And Stuart was definitely broody and damaged. As the older brother of Patrick Knight, we don’t know much about ‘Captain Asshat’, aside from the fact that he’s a Marine and that’s been his whole life…until the one day where that dream was brutally ripped away from him and left him broken, alone, and angry.

When an injury during deployment leaves him unable to continue active duty, Stuart is lost. He’s lost to the pain, to the memories, to the nightmares, and to his own demons.

When he realizes just how bad his opiate addiction is, he decides to leave everything for a chance to fix himself in the seclusion of his uncle’s cabin in Montana. But before that, he pays one last visit to the gym where he knows his nephew’s mother works. This is where Mariska first meets him.

Sometimes it takes more courage to give up one dream for a new one.

Mariska is a free spirit, a gypsy at heart. When the one simply unassuming but intense meeting with Stuart leaves her with vivid nightmares that she’s unable to explain but knows they’re inexplicably tied to the mysterious man, she makes a spur of the moment decision. Learning that Patrick and his girlfriend will be following Stuart to Montana, she lies about being his friend to follow them there. She doesn’t know why she does this, but all she knows is that she has to. She wants to fix him, to help him heal. Stuart, of course, wants nothing to do with the sweet and innocent Mariska. He thinks that his darkness will only taint her.

Thus begins the intricate push and pull dance of Mariska trying to get closer to him and Stuart pushing her away while at the same time unable to fight his connection to her.

If you love someone, set him free.”
“If he doesn’t come back, hunt him down and kill him.”

I have to say that the man really was intense, particularly inside the bedroom. Mariska, though slightly naive and innocent, was still a fantastic heroine. I’m not sure exactly why, but there was just something about her that just worked for me when usually it wouldn’t. Maybe it was her determination to heal Stuart?

While the book focuses on the developing relationship between Stuart and Mariska, it does also have a number of other POVS. This is the part that would definitely be lost on the reader that’s just going into this book without reading the others. There’s a lot of continuing story development that takes place here, and reading the series in order would help you connect to that more. Though I have to say that I really didn’t understand the inclusion of Nikki’s POV in the very beginning. Considering that I wanted to punch her in the throat toward the end, it really didn’t help. but perhaps the author has a grander plan for her.

I enjoyed this book much more than One to Love. It was emotional, at times steamy and at times sweet. A fantastic combination. But there was just a little something missing for me for it to be that perfect 5 star read. That’s not to say it wasn’t a solid 4 star, because it truly was. The epilogue was wonderful and I love how Tia gives you a satisfactory HEA while still giving you just enough of a tease to leave you begging for the next book.

Be sure to thank your soul for wanting my broken one.”
“You weren’t broken. You only needed a safe place to run free.”

Definitely looking forward to the next installment and to see exactly what this big secret that Derek is hiding that could cost him everything.

Books by Tia Louise

The Truth About Air & Water by Katherine Owen 

(Truth in Lies #2) 

Publication date: August 25th 2014

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

The Truth In Lies Series. READ 
This Much Is True, book 1 first, although it’s been written as a standalone. Readers say, don’t do that.

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” -Ernest Hemingway ~ A Farewell To Arms

They share an epic love but one moment changes everything. A life together that seemed certain is shattered. One learns you never love the same way twice; the other learns what it means to come home. You only think you know how this love story goes, but do you really know how an epic love can end?

“There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.”
-F. Scott Fitzgerald

She is living color, and I’ve been in a black-and-white world for far too long without her.
Powerful stuff. It surrounds me. I’ve felt it since I first arrived. The forcefield of her. The magnetism of her. The power she wields over me. I’m alive again because of her, like a dying plant that finally gets some water. I’ve got it bad for this girl.
Reality dawns.
The light comes through the darkness and shines on me.
She’s my water.
-Lincoln Presley

The truth is I breathe with him. He is my air. Raison d’etre.
-Tally Landon

Author’s note: This novel is part of the Truth In Lies series. It can be read as standalone, however, fans of my fiction already are highly recommending that those new to my work, READ This Much Is True book 1 FIRST.

As Lincoln Presley would say, “do as you must, Princess.”

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4 I’m emotionally exhausted Stars

You know what they say, don’t you?
Everything comes together.
You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?
Everything comes together and then falls apart.
But who’s right? You ask.
I am.

When I finished This Much is True last year, I was emotionally wrung out. Katherine Owen has this incredible ability to reach with her words straight down your throat and to your heart. Then, like the sadist that she surely has to be, she squeezes that fucker and doesn’t let it go until you’re crying, screaming, and begging for mercy. Ask me how I survived that book, and fuck if I know. It was gut wrenching. And at the same time, that couple stayed with me. They never got out of my head. It’s just one of those tumultuous love stories that you simply can’t forget.

Beautiful things are like that, extraordinary one minute, gone the next.

So you can only imagine my reaction when Katherine told me that she will writing a second book for Linc and Tally (FYI the first books does contain a HEA). Suffice it to say I was equal parts excited and terrified as to what else the author can possibly put this couple through. Believe me when I tell you that she already put them through hell and back…twice over….then went back and ran them over with a mack truck…twice.

We are bound, somehow, her and I.

First, while you could technically read this as a standalone, I would advise against this. You really need to start from the very beginning with Linc and Tally. You’ll understand and appreciate everything that they’ve been through that much more.

I was afraid that this book would be excessive, have unnecessary angst, drama, and quite frankly be too much. I can also tell you that I am now gladly eating my words. Because Tally and Linc absolutely needed this book, and I’m so happy that Katherine decided to write it. It’s definitely not as intense or angsty as the first one, but don’t let that fool you. It will still put you through the wringer emotionally.

It’s just like they say. You’ve got your fingers in the dike preventing the dam from breaking, but it’s only a matter of time before it does. That’s how water works. That’s the strength of water. You can’t stop it.

The Truth About Air & Water finds Linc and Tally together, months after This Much is True ended. They’re settling into their life together one step at a time and trying to plan their wedding. But nothing for this couple has ever been easy, and their road to marriage certainly isn’t a smooth one. Actually, fuck that. It’s a mount Everest fucking climb is what it is.

Linc is laser focused on his baseball career, while Tally is still dealing with the fallout from the gut wrenching news that she received after her attack in Moscow. They’re trying to make things works, but sometimes even your best isn’t enough. And sometimes life has other plans for you and doesn’t ask whether or not you’re strong enough to handle it.

I must hate him now. I love him and hate him at the same tie. I wield this newfound rage deep inside, so deep that no one sees it, but it’s there growing and changing and getting stronger with every passing day.

What happens? Well, that my nosy friends, I definitely can’t tell you. But what I can tell you, is that as tumultuous and volatile as this love story is, it’s like a shipwreck

But just try to look away. I dare you.

If you’re looking for a book that’s filled with steam to offset the angst, keep looking. Katherine Owen doesn’t give you that here. And the odd thing? I never found myself missing it.

I’ll give you a moment to absorb that particular shock.

The fact is, this is such an emotional and poignant story that you will find yourself too absorbed in all their turmoil to care about anything else.

Your heart will bleed for this couple. You’ll scream, you’ll rage, you’ll cry. And you sure as hell won’t be able to set it down.

She is living color, and I’ve been in a black-and-white world for far too long without her.
Powerful stuff. It surrounds me. I’ve felt it since I first arrived. The forcefield of her. The magnetism of her. The power she wields over me. I’m alive again because of her, like a dying plant that finally gets some water. I’ve got it bad for this girl.
Reality dawns.
The light comes through the darkness and shines on me.
She’s my water. 

That ending was just absolute perfection. It managed to bring a tear even to my cold and black little heart. If you like angsty, emotional, and at times even gut wrenching reads, this is an author that you need to become acquainted with. If even this self proclaimed smut slut can look past the fact that there’s basically zero steam because I was so enraptured in the story, it really tells you something.

My only advise? Have lots of alcohol, tissues, and ice cream on hand. PMS has NOTHING on Katherine Owen.

Don’t miss the book that started it all!

My Review / Amazon / B&N / Book Depository

Katherine Owen writes contemporary edgy fiction, which translates to: she writes love stories that are contemporary in setting and both edgy and dark. Some readers term her books emotional roller coasters. With her writing, Owen admits she has a fondness for angst, likes to play with a little drama, and essentially toys around with the unintentional complications of love. She contends this began early on when she won a poetry contest at the age of fourteen and appears to be without end. Owen has an avid love of coffee, books, and writing, but not necessarily in that order. She writes both Contemporary Romance and New Adult fiction which includes her bestselling TRUTH IN LIES Series (a series despite despising ‘series’) beginning with This Much Is True and her latest release, The Truth About Air & Water. The TRUTH IN LIES series is fan-driven. So. There will be a third book about Linc and Tally released in 2015 titled Tell Me Something True.

About Owen’s fiction…This is NOT the light trope stuff. She travels a unique, writerly path and enjoys writing dark and angsty (a “non-word” she is fond of) emotional love stories. She often warns readers to be prepared with: time, tissues, wine, Advil or your drug of choice. And, as her most favored character, Lincoln Presley, would say, “do what you must, Princess.”

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• Signed copies of This Much Is True and The Truth About Air & Water 
• Signed copy of This Much Is True
• Signed copy of The Truth About Air & Water
• $25 Amazon Gift Card

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Title: All I Want

Luke Evans is a heartbreaker.

I didn’t want to give mine to him. Not when he kept me out.

He gave me enough, just enough to make me fall in love with him. I say this to convince myself. But I know the truth.

I would’ve fallen in love with him at a distance.

Handing my heart over to Luke was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I was naive when I wished for more, when I hoped he wanted the same things I did.

I try to hate him. I try to forget him.

But it’s not that easy.

Love is a ruthless bitch, and I’m her latest victim.

Tessa Kelly is a man-eater.

When she sets her sights on you, she doesn’t just consume your heart, she goes for your soul.

What we had was perfect, real, and all I would ever want.

But she destroyed it.

She destroyed us.

I try to hate her. I try to forget her.

But it’s not that easy.

Love is for people who have hope, and I have none.

Amazon US / Amazon UK

Because when you fall in love with someone exactly the way they are, how do you convince yourself they aren’t enough for you?

One of my favorite tropes is jilted lovers. Just something about all that angst between the couple that were once hot and heavy then ripped apart but still feel that inexplicable connection to each other months (or in the case here, a year) later. It’s utterly delicious. Now make one of those a manwhorish and brooding hot cop and the other a sassy call ’em like she sees ’em heroine? Well that’s just guaranteed book magic for me. What? I’m easy like that.

I knew from the first chapter that Tessa was going to be one of those heroines that I’m going to love. She’s snarky, sarcastic, borderline bitchy, and doesn’t hesitate to cut anyone down to size. It’s not everyday you get a heroine that walks in on her ex (who she still has feelings for) getting a blowjob from a random blonde and manage to put them both in their place.

Oh sweetie. You might want to go disinfect. he’s got the herp.”
“Oh my God. Are you serious? You have herpes?”
“What? No I don’t!”
“He’s really sweet about it though,” I say sympathetically at the blonde. “He pays for my Valtrex every month.”

She does have her moments of acting juvenile and stupid and at times a straight out bitch. BUT, underneath all that was a vulnerability that I couldn’t help but connect with.

Tessa met Luke through her older brother Ben, who happens to be Luke’s partner on the force. They hit it off right away and their relationship starts hot and heavy. Their chemistry never fizzles off, but when Tessa realizes that Luke will always hold himself off from her emotional and isn’t interested in ever settling down, she calls it off.

Now Luke. Oh my sweet darling Luke. What can I tell you about him aside from the fact that I couldn’t get enough of his stubborn and pigheaded ways. Luke never got over Tessa, but he knows that he’ll never be able to truly open up to her emotionally. That doesn’t stop him from hating her for walking away from him without any explanation. The fact that even a year later the redheaded vixen continues to plague his fantasies certainly doesn’t help matters any.

It’s possible to hate someone, to look at them and wish you weren’t aware of their every move, and to want them more than you’ve ever wanted anything in your life.

Thus begins their (not so) delicate dance of I hate you/I want you. Gawd it was delicious.

I have to admit that at times both Luke and Tessa had me wanting to shake them for their juvenile actions and decisions. But at the same time, it also just worked in this book. Don’t ask me to explain why or how, such is the magic of J. Daniels writing.

It’s possible to hate someone, to look at them and wish you weren’t aware of their every move, and to want them more than you’ve ever wanted anything in your life.

Underneath all the jealousy and snarky barbs there was a chemistry that was so hot, it burned through the pages.

Oh my God,” I whimper.
“Do I need to tell you what to do with that?” he asks, his voice laced with arrogance as he glances down at my hand that remains stagnant against his cock.
“God I fucking hate you.” I pull his cock free and wrap my hand around it, feeling him thicken in my palm…
“Yeah, I hate you too, babe.”

It was fucking hot is basically what I’m trying to tell you here.

Beyond the hot hate sex and the constant back and forth between Tessa and Luke, there was also a fantastic story. The author did a fantastic job allowing both these characters the growth that they needed but in their own due time. Even if you’ll find Tessa brash at times, you’ll really grow to like her toward the end. And if you don’t lust for Luke from the very beginning, well then there may be something wrong with you 😉

All the characters from the previous book make an appearance as well as an introduction of a few more. One of which I am practically panting to get a story for.

This was a sizzling hot romance that was humorous, sexy, and even emotional. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The epilogue was great and I couldn’t imagine it ending any different with this couple. But I’m definitely looking forward to getting a peak of them in the future books in this series like we did for Mia and Ben in this one.

Also Available

Where I Belong (Alabama Summers bk 1)

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J. Daniels was born and raised in Maryland.

After putting her kids to bed, she escapes into her cheeky world where some of her characters kiss, and some of them do a lot more than kiss.

She is an avid reader and enjoys everything from unconventional romance to fantasy novels.

Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

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A sexy category romance from Entangled’s Brazen imprint…

No strings. And no restraints…

Professional football player Bryan Townsend is sidelined for the next two weeks while he recovers from a knee injury. The upside? He’ll get to attend his sister’s wedding. The downside? He’s not sure he’ll have a spot on his team when he returns. So when he’s confronted by a sexy blast from his past the night of the bachelor party, he sees an opportunity to seduce thevery stunning maid of honor.

But Bryan had no clue Jill St. John was still a virgin. Or that she was merely looking to expand her sexual repertoire without having to trust anyone with her heart. But with every encounter, Jill can’t help but fall for the man Bryan’s become. The clock is running down. If he’s to win it all, Bryan must make the biggest play of his career—choosing between his team…or the woman he’s always wanted.

It turns out that the girl next door sometimes grows up to be the woman who makes you fall in love with her, whether or not you’re ready.

I love Cari Quinn’s writing, and she never fails to deliver some of the sexiest bad boys I’ve had the pleasure of reading. When you have a football star with a penchant for dirty talk and a little kink thrown in?

Nothing I like more than good girl lusting after her best friend’s older brother trope. It’s pretty much always a winner in my book, especially when the MCs chemistry is so sizzling it practically burns the pages.

Jill has been lusting after the town’s bad boy, Bryan, since she was just a teen. But unfortunately for her, he’s always seen her as his younger sister’s best friend. They share one sizzling kiss once and then he leaves town to pursue his football career. Now he’s back for his sister’s wedding, and all bets are off. Jill may be a virgin, but she’s determined to finally seduce the bad boy into her bed…even if she has to get her hands a little uhem…dirty…in the process.

I was a little afraid at first that Jill would annoy me at first. I’m not really a reader that likes heroines that are on the brash side, or are basically coming off as desperate in their pursuit of the guy, but luckily Jill never quite crossed that line. She does pursue Bryan, and she’s certainly not shy about it, but it was never excessive to the point where it would bother me.

Make me come. Please.” She didn’t recognize the high, thin pitch of her own voice. She couldn’t get close enough, couldn’t quite get there.
“I will, baby. I’m living for it.”

Now Bryan was a bad boy you will fall for right away. He struggles with his attraction to Jill. Given his reputation of the love them and leave them type, he thinks she’s too good for him. That is, until the good girl shows him that she has a VERY bad side to her.

This wasn’t about claiming some part of her she hadn’t given someone else. This was total ownership. But he didn’t own her. She owned HIM.
His body. His mind. His heart.

No Promises Required is a steamy, a little kinky, and a lot entertaining. It was the perfect sexy romance to pick up while in between books. I enjoyed the heck out of it. If you’re a fan of the best friend’s sibling trope, you will LOVE this book. Cari Quinn definitely knows how to write one scorching sex scene. But beyond the sex, there was a fantastic romance with even better secondary characters. I really hope that Cade will be getting a book. My curiosity is definitely peaked with that one.

Don’t miss the first 3 books in the Love Required series!