GHOSTED
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: J.M. Darhower
Release Date: August 24, 2017
He’s a troubled young actor, Hollywood’s newest heartthrob, struggling with fame as the star of the latest superhero franchise. Through scandal after scandal, addiction on top of addiction, a flurry of paparazzi hunt him as he fights to conquer his demons.
She’s a single mother, assistant manager at a grocery store, existing in monotony with her five-year-old daughter. Every day when she goes to work, lurid tabloids surround her, the face of a notorious bad boy haunting her from their covers.
A man and a woman, living vastly different lives, but that wasn’t always the case. Once, they were just a boy and a girl who bonded over comic books and fell in love unexpectedly.
When Kennedy Garfield met Jonathan Cunningham back in high school, she knew he had all the makings of a tragic hero. With stars in his eyes, and her heart on her sleeve, the pair ran away together to follow their dreams.
But dreams, sometimes, turn into nightmares.
Now, years later, the only thing they share is a daughter—one who has no idea her father plays her favorite superhero. But Jonathan is desperate to make amends, and at the top of his list is the woman who gave up everything for him and the little girl he hasn’t yet met.
Never make someone else the main character in your own story.”
EVERYTHING. This book was EVERYTHING. All of the things. Of the angsty, second chance romance feels variety.
You know when you see a book on your feed and find yourself wondering if it’s really worth all of the hype? I can tell you with total conviction, that this book is. It’s a huge step away from Darhower’s other books, pure contemporary, and downright magical.
So what is it about this story that enraptured me so completely? Aside from the multi-layered characters that are full of depth and you can’t help but fall for immediately, it was the writing. The way that this second chance romance unravels and the way the author gives the reader the POV from the past? Pure literary magic.
A troubled young actor, struggling with newfound sobriety and righting the wrongs of his past. A heart-broken, hardworking single mother with a spine of steel that was left in his rearview mirror as he chased his dream and got lost in a haze of alcohol and drugs. An adorable baby girl that brings the two of them a full circle. This was a powerful, incredibly realistic, and emotional story of second chances. Jonathan is not a perfect hero. He’s nowhere close to it. You want to hate him for his mistakes, but as you learn the story through the eyes of the woman that loved him and get his POV in the present, you get to see a man that’s determined to pay for his mistakes and make them right. He’s a man that never stopped loving the girl from his past and the woman that never truly left his present. He’s a man that knows that if she gives him just one more chance, though he doesn’t deserve it, he won’t squander it, and he’ll do anything to convince her that he’s worth the risk.
Once burned, twice shy. Kennedy gave up everything once for the man she loved to chase his dreams, and now six years later, she’s still picking up the pieces that he left in his wake. It’s impossible not to immediately love this character. There’s this endearing vulnerability to go along with her spine of steel and determination to make a life for herself and her daughter that you have a tremendous amount of respect for. She struggles with trying to let go of her past and move on from the man that will always hold a piece of her heart.
Ghosted is perfectly paced, phenomenally written, and completely enrapturing. It was full of emotion and a beautiful romance that’ll stay with me for a long, long time.
ROYALLY ENDOWED
Oh.
THE BRIGHTEST SUNSET
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.
WICKED INTENTIONS
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! 
HOT ADDICTION
This. Book. GAH! It was worth every single second of the wait. Mendez was everything. EVERYTHING.
TWO IS A LIE
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 
But I digress as usual. So let’s bring it back to the subject at hand. This book. GAH!
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.
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.
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.
SILVER SILENCE
ONE IS A PROMISE
It doesn’t matter what this woman writes, she manages to hook me with just the first page alone. Her words are riveting, crackling with so much intensity, you feel like her characters are going to jump right out of the pages. They’re living, breathing things that are so real, it’s hard to believe you’re reading fiction. Her stories are live wires full of so much chemistry, it crackles and burns. And this book? It was all of those things and more. So much more!
What happens when you find a once in a lifetime kind of love, only to lose it in a way that you’re still not able to move on from? That’s exactly what Danni is trying to figure out. Three years ago she was living the dream with the love of her life; Cole. After a ridiculously sweet meet-cute, they fall hard and fast. They plan their life together. They plan a wedding. But then everything gets shattered and Danni is left alone to pick up the pieces.
What I really loved is how believable Danni’s connection is to Trace without taking anything away from her memory of Cole.
RUCKUS
Confession time: I was equally ready to part with an ovary to get my grabby little hands on this book and dreading it. I know! I know! Quit looking at me like I’m crazy, I’ll splain everything. I was excited as hell for this book because I live for LJ’s words. LIVE for them. But a part of me was dreading it because Dean happened to date Rosie’s older sister in the previous book, 
Rosie was an amazing heroine. Here’s someone dealing with a life-altering illness, yet it doesn’t diminish any of her spark. She has sass for days and isn’t afraid to put Dean in his place. Constantly. I loved how hard she made him work for it. And boy did he work for it.
Ruckus was everything I’d hoped it would be and yet so much more. It was angsty deliciousness filled with enough chemistry you felt like your fingers will burn just from turning the pages . It was packed full of feeling and so much depth, you can’t help but fall into the vortex of the story. It was beautiful. It was tragic.
LJ Shen is a freaking unicorn. Every book she releases is better than her last. If she gets any better at her craft I may have to build her a shrine and stalk her incessantly (at least more than I do now.)
I knew I would love this book. But I didn’t expect my love for this book to compete for my love for Vicious’s book. To follow up after Vicious, which was basically perfection, I was skeeered. BUT LJ Shen just shoved her way into my heart with Dean ‘Ruckus’ Cole. How?! I have no idea. It was sneaky and genius.
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Shivers. I have honest to god shivers. This author is simply incomparable. She writes such raw, emotional, sensual stories that are unlike any I’ve ever read. What makes them so memorable is that they’re just so…real. They’re immeasurably satisfying but without having to be wrapped up in a perfect little bow at the end. I truly believe that Behind The Curtain is Kery’s best book to date and easily my favorite by her. It was such a beautiful and poignant second chance romance that was packed with as much heat as it had feeling. I love every page of it.
Eight years ago, behind the veil of youthful innocence and nativity, Asher Gaites and Laila Barek fell in love. It was was lovely, pure, and true. Asher was just out of university and about to take on his career outside of his parent’s influence and pull. Laila was a sheltered young woman just discovering the wonders of love and lust. They had all the odds stacked against them; Laila’s conservative Moroccan family, Asher’s upcoming move to a different state to begin his job, yet none of it could stop them from falling head over heels…only to be ripped apart.
If you haven’t read a book by this author yet, you can’t start with a better book than this one. It was so much more than just a romance. I loved every page of it and simply can’t recommend it enough.
