Sunday, January 31, 2016

*Review* Beyond What is Given by Rebecca Yarros

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Synopsis:
Lt. Grayson Masters is focused on graduating the Apache helicopter course, and the last thing he needs is his gorgeous new roommate Samantha Fitzgerald distracting him. While her smart mouth and free spirit are irresistibly irritating, he can’t deny their off-the-charts chemistry, no matter how hard he tries.

Having just been expelled from college, Sam has no business digging for Grayson’s secrets while she’s hiding her own, but that doesn’t stop her from trying to tear down his walls. Each barrier she busts through drops one of her own, though, and she’s not prepared for the truth: another woman laid claim to Grayson’s heart long ago.

Falling in love is something neither Grayson nor Sam can afford, and when that line is crossed and secrets are exposed, they’ll learn that sometimes it’s the answered prayers that will put you through hell.



My Review:
5 out of 5 stars
★★★★★

Grayson and Sam are one of my favorite couples.  I rooted throughout the book for Grayson to allow Sam to break his walls down and see what a great person he really was.  The story flowed perfectly, sucking you in and making you feel like you are right there with the characters as everything is happening.  It makes you feel like a part of their family.  I'm looking forward to reading the other books in this series. 

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Blog Tour + Review- Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros




New Military Romance!  
Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros is
Now Available!


Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1NeMPn1






Blurb
There are some debts you can’t repay.

Josh Walker is loyal, reckless, and every girl’s dream. But he only has eyes for December Howard, the girl he's craved since his high school hockey days. Together they have survived grief, the military, distance, and time as they’ve fought for stolen weekends between his post at Ft. Rucker and her college at Vanderbilt. Now that Josh is a medevac pilot and Ember is headed toward graduation, they’re moving on—and in—together.
Ember never wanted the Army life, but loving Josh means accepting whatever the army dictates—even when that means saying goodbye as Josh heads to Afghanistan, a country that nearly killed him once before and that took her father. But filling their last days together with love, passion, and plans for their future doesn’t temper Ember’s fear, and if there’s one thing she’s learned from her father’s death, it’s that there are some obstacles even love can’t conquer.

Flight school is over.
This is war.




Excerpt

I pulled her onto my lap, gently squeezing the sweet curves of her hips.
“Behave,” she whispered into my ear, but ran her tongue along the edge.
My fingers flexed, teasing under the edges of the black skirt that had slid higher on her thighs as she sat. I couldn’t help it—her skin was a magnet for my hands. “You like it better when I don’t,” I answered.
She locked those blue eyes on mine, and for that second, I wanted everyone to go the fuck away so I could get my remarkable girlfriend out of her clothes. Not a girlfriend for long. Not if I found the perfect moment for that little velvet box hidden upstairs.
Mrs. Walker. December-fucking-Walker. Sounded perfect to me.
“Earth to Josh and Ember,” Jagger called, waving his hand like he’d been at it a while.
“Yeah, yeah, a toast,” Ember said, wiggling against my now-hard lap. I locked her down with my hands, and she threw me a smug grin, well aware of what she’d done.
Jagger raised his beer. “To friends. Hell, that doesn’t even cut it. You guys, all of you...I wouldn’t be here”—he looked over to Paisley—“or even the man I am, without you. So more than friends...to family.”
We glanced around the fire at the family we’d made, and I felt it—one of those moments you can’t forget, the kind that stay with you when it’s long past, so you try to memorize everything. It was a deep peace, a contentment laced with the silent knowledge that we wouldn’t be together again for far too long.
“To family,” we all said in scattered rhythm, and I kissed the underside of Ember’s jaw.


**VIEW THE Hallowed Ground TRAILER HERE: https://vimeo.com/148520997 **
My review:
5 out of 5 stars

I was hooked into the Flight & Glory series from the first book and have loved getting to read all of the guys' stories. Josh and Ember are definitely my favorite couple EVER. Their love is just....*swoon*. It's sad to see this series come to an end but Rebecca has wrapped everything up perfectly. This book takes you on a roller coaster of emotions but I wouldn't have it any other way.

About the Author


Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and lover of all things chocolate, coffee, and Paleo. In addition to being a mom, military wife, and blogger, she can never choose between Young Adult and New Adult fiction, so she writes both. She's a graduate of Troy University, where she studied European history and English, but still holds out hope for an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Her blog, The Only Girl Among Boys, has been voted the Top Military Mom Blog the last two years, and celebrates the complex issues surrounding the military life she adores.
When she's not writing, she's tying on hockey skates for her kids, or sneaking in some guitar time. She is madly in love with her army-aviator husband of eleven years. They finally can call Colorado home along with their gaggle of rambunctious kiddos and snoring English Bulldog.
Stalk Rebecca here:

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Monday, January 25, 2016

*Review* Built to Last by Elisabeth Grace

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Synopsis:
At seventeen, the small town of Saltwater Springs had been everything to Scarlett Devereaux—as had her boyfriend Luke. Never had she imagined she’d have to leave them both behind—until the night that changed everything. A decade after skipping town Scarlett returns to start over in the only place that ever really felt like home. But when nothing goes as planned, she’s forced to turn to Luke for help. 

With a drunk for a dad and a mom making pocket change at the local diner, no one ever thought Luke Garrity would amount to anything. After building a successful contracting business he’s proven everyone wrong professionally, but things in his personal life are upside down. Making it the exact wrong time for Scarlett to return to Saltwater Springs. 

With a history of devastation and heartbreak between them can Scarlett and Luke make amends, or will secrets from the past threaten the foundation of Scarlett’s new life? Were Luke and Scarlett really built to last?



My Review:
5 out of 5 stars
★★★★★

I love second chance romances and I think this one is now one of my new favorites. I loved Luke and Scarlett's story. After a decade of being apart, their love for each other never faltered.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Review: Hard to Handle by R.C Boldt





Synopsis: 
RC Boldt’s Teach Me series gives us a closer look at just how thin the line is between love and hate… 

Fifth grade social studies teacher, Laney Kavanaugh, is no stranger to being left behind – her father taught her that at a young age. That’s why she always has her eyes wide open when it comes to men. She’s determined she will never again be the one left behind. She doesn’t let sex blur what they’re really doing; it’s always just sex. 

Until Zach. 

Zachariah Mayson, fifth grade writing and English teacher, has been the bane of Laney’s existence from the moment they met at their shared elementary school. She can’t stand him. He gets under her skin like no other and is always utterly obnoxious in his attempts–and successes–in getting a rise out of her. 

Until the wedding. 

The night of their friends’ wedding, Laney gives in to a moment of melancholy, knowing she’ll never be able to let her guard down enough to let a guy close, let alone someday get married. She and Zach end up having the hottest night she’d ever experienced, showing her another side of him, a softer, sweeter one he’d hidden from her until now. Because now, he hoped she was finally ready to “see” him. 

But when you’ve always guarded yourself against falling in love, can you let go of the past in order to embrace the future?





Review: 

5.0 out of 5.0 

Hard to Handle is the second book in the Teach Me series.  This book focuses on Laney and Zach, but there are appearances from the other characters in the first book, including Mac and Raine!  I was rooting for Laney and Zach from the beginning.  It was clear from when they first met that Zach was interested in Laney, but because of a misunderstanding, they spent the next several years at each others throats, irritating each other every chance they got.  I loved watching their relationship develop throughout the course of the book after they had their night of passion together and started spending more time with each other.  They have such great chemistry together.  When Laney finally opened herself up to the possibility of love and confessed her feelings to Zach the way she did, I was in tears.  This was another great book from an amazing author.  I'm looking forward to reading more books from her in the future.  


Thursday, January 21, 2016

*~*Cover Reveal*~* Wherever It Leads by Adriana Locke




Title: Wherever It Leads
Author: Adriana Locke
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Cover Design: Kari March Designs
 Release Date: February 15, 2016



Blurb

Smooth. Sexy. Irresistible.

Those qualities equal only one thing.

Big. Freaking. Trouble. 

Brynne Calloway knows that anything that seems too good to be true usually is. Fenton Abbott and his cashmere voice, Adonis body, and a magnetism like no other clearly falls into that category. But what’s life without a little risk?

It was supposed to be a rebound, an uncomplicated escape from reality. But nothing ever goes as planned. Fenton turns out to be so much more … in ways Brynne never sees coming.





Excerpt


I pull out a cute emerald green dress. I brought a bright yellow bikini that would look really cute under it. Tossing my things around in the suitcase, I come up empty handed. Staring at my luggage, I realize I don't see any of the five bikinis I brought.

Dashing into the closet, I look on the rack where I hung the red one up from yesterday.

Gone.

"That fucker."

"Who?"

I spin around to see Fenton leaning against the doorframe. His blue tie is loose, his jacket missing, his hair a mussed-up, yummy mess.

"The thief," I say, hands on my hips, trying to hide my desire to wrap my legs around his waist and kiss the hell out of him.

"We have a thief?" He watches me with complete sincerity, like he has no clue what I'm talking about.

"We do. And he seems to have a penchant for my bikinis."

"Huh."

"Yeah," I say, traipsing over to him. "And nobody likes a thief."

"You know what else nobody likes?" He shoves off the frame and wraps his hands around my waist, lacing his fingers together in the dip at the small of my back. "Girls that can't listen."

"I’ve never been a good listener,” I sigh dramatically. “I just make things happen ... like when my bikinis get stolen, I just call the concierge and have them bring me another one up. Something skimpy and very, very sexy.”

He smacks my ass, making me yelp.

“And I charged it to your room since you stole my others. Thief."

“Did you really have them bring you another one?” he chuckles, a sinful smirk on his face. He’s trying to figure out how to handle me, yet still get his way.

“No,” I give in, as his lips find the crook of my neck. “But I hadn’t ruled it out.”

"You're going to make me crazy, you know that?"
 

He brushes his lips to mine and, in a split second, has me forgetting all about the bikinis. I’m focused solely on getting him out of his suit.






Author Bio

USA Today Bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own.

She resides in the Midwest with her husband, sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather's nice and there's always a piece of candy in her pocket.



Author Links

Thursday, January 14, 2016

*Excerpt Reveal* - Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros








“I’ve never been able to hold back with you. It’s always been full measures or nothing. No halfway bullshit.”
She ran her fingers through my hair, and I groaned when she scratched her nails lightly over my scalp. God, it felt so damn good.
“I’ve always loved that about us. We’re all in. Always.”
“Yes.”

“But that’s not ugly. Nothing you’ve told me is ugly.”
My stomach dropped, and we passed through the station on route to Peak Eight. I looked up to the green mountains, their beauty overwhelming, their sheer size distorted because we were too close to accurately gauge their mass.
“Even knowing everything we have, this incredible love that we share, our beautiful life that we’re building...” I shook my head and looked down at her knees.
“Josh.” She tipped my chin. “I’m here. No matter what you’re about to say.”
“Medevacing the wounded... Ember, I’ve found my purpose. I’ll always go when they call. How many deployments can you wait through? How many times can I leave you?”

Fear streaked through her eyes, but she masked it before I could question her. “As many as it takes. I would rather sit home and wait for you, than spend a lifetime with anyone else.”


New Military Romance from Rebecca Yarros in Hallowed Ground (Book Four) of the
Flight & Glory Series releasing January 25th!
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1NeMPn1

Blurb

There are some debts you can’t repay.

Josh Walker is loyal, reckless, and every girl’s dream. But he only has eyes for December Howard, the girl he's craved since his high school hockey days. Together they have survived grief, the military, distance, and time as they’ve fought for stolen weekends between his post at Ft. Rucker and her college at Vanderbilt. Now that Josh is a medevac pilot and Ember is headed toward graduation, they’re moving on—and in—together.

Ember never wanted the Army life, but loving Josh means accepting whatever the army dictates—even when that means saying goodbye as Josh heads to Afghanistan, a country that nearly killed him once before and that took her father. But filling their last days together with love, passion, and plans for their future doesn’t temper Ember’s fear, and if there’s one thing she’s learned from her father’s death, it’s that there are some obstacles even love can’t conquer.

Flight school is over.
This is war.



**VIEW THE Hallowed Ground TRAILER HERE: https://vimeo.com/148520997 **




Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and lover of all things chocolate, coffee, and Paleo. In addition to being a mom, military wife, and blogger, she can never choose between Young Adult and New Adult fiction, so she writes both. She's a graduate of Troy University, where she studied European history and English, but still holds out hope for an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Her blog, The Only Girl Among Boys, has been voted the Top Military Mom Blog the last two years, and celebrates the complex issues surrounding the military life she adores.

When she's not writing, she's tying on hockey skates for her kids, or sneaking in some guitar time. She is madly in love with her army-aviator husband of eleven years. They finally can call Colorado home along with their gaggle of rambunctious kiddos and snoring English Bulldog.

Stalk Rebecca here:

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

*Review* Eyes Turned Skyward by Rebecca Yarros

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Synopsis:
Since her sister's death, twenty-year-old Paisley Donovan, who shares her sister’s heart condition, is treated like delicate glass by her parents. But nothing will stop her from completing her Bucket List—even if it kills her. And it almost does, until Jagger Bateman pulls her from the ocean and breathes more than air into her lungs—he sets her soul on fire.

Jagger is enrolled in the country's toughest flight school. He's wickedly hot, reckless, and perfect for a girl looking to live life to the fullest. Except that Paisley is the commanding general's daughter, and her boyfriend is Jagger's biggest rival. Now Paisley must decide just how much to risk for a guy who makes her heart pound a little too hard.

They're flying through dangerous territory—and one wrong move could make them crash and burn...



My Review:
5 out of 5 stars
★★★★★

I really loved this book. I loved getting to see Jagger go from the playboy who was never with the same girl more than once to being head over heels in love with Paisley. Jagger and Paisley had wonderful chemistry together. I'm looking forward to reading Grayson's story in the next book.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

*Sales Blitz* Full Measures - Rebecca Yarros



Do not miss out on the opportunity to grab this beautifully written, emotional military romance about love, loss and survival for ONLY $0.99!
ON SALE NOW!
**Limited Time Only - Each book can be read as a stand alone**

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1PLTOqk






She knew. That’s why Mom hadn’t opened the door. She knew he was dead.
Twenty years as an army brat and Ember Howard knew, too. The soldiers at the door meant her dad was never coming home. What she didn’t know was how she would find the strength to singlehandedly care for her crumbling family when her mom falls apart.
Then Josh Walker enters her life. Hockey star, her new next-door neighbor, and not to mention the most delicious hands that insist on saving her over and over again. He has a way of erasing the pain with a single look, a single touch. As much as she wants to turn off her feelings and endure the heartache on her own, she can’t deny their intense attraction.
Until Josh’s secret shatters their world. And Ember must decide if he’s worth the risk that comes with loving a man who could strip her bare.





Full Measures Hallway Scene  - Josh POV

The tile floor was cold under my bare feet as I leaned back against the kitchen counter, eating even colder ice cream. Muffled voices came from the entry hall, which probably meant Jagger had another girl over. Not that I cared, but it was a harsh reminder that the only girl I wanted was literally a wall away and wanted nothing to do with me.
Then again, after watching her set that shirt on fire yesterday, I was beginning to think it was less me she was angry at and more the entire world. I got it, really. She’d lost her dad, her mom wasn’t functioning, and she couldn’t get a moment peaceful enough to get her feet under her. She was frustrating as hell, and I couldn’t even blame her for it. Stronger women would have crumbled under what she’d been handed. So I flipped Jagger off when he’d asked me if we needed to call Oprah about my “manpain,” ate ice cream like a heartbroken girl, and tried not to fantasize about licking it off Ember. Looks like I failed that one, too.
“Barbies?” Ember’s voice came through clear as a bell, and I nearly dropped my spoon. Chills ran down my arms, and it wasn’t because of the ice cream currently melting on my tongue. Nope, just my skin reacting to her nearness. I licked off the back of the spoon, abandoned the bowl on the counter, and moved to straighten my shirt, but I wasn’t wearing one. I didn’t give it a second thought before I quietly rounded the corner, leaning back against the wall to get a better look at her.
“Walker! You got company!” Jagger called out, not realizing I was right behind him. Then again, neither did Ember, which gave me a coveted minute to soak her in, adorable bare feet and all. “Just in case he isn’t what you’re looking for… My name’s Jagger.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Jagger.”
“Oh, it’s my pleasure.”
Oh, hell no. I knew that voice on Jagger, the one that sought any good-looking woman in a five-mile radius, and couldn’t stay quiet. “Jagger, back the fuck up off Ember.”
His head dropped a fraction of an inch, just enough to let me know he’d heard me stake the claim. I’d pulled some kindergarten shit and basically licked her like a snack I didn’t want to share — I didn’t give a fuck if it was immature.
“And another one bites the dust,” Jagger said as he passed by me. He shot up his eyebrows in question, and I answered with an almost indistinguishable nod. Yes, this is the girl I’ve been talking about.
He laughed so quietly I almost missed it. Almost. Laugh it up. One day it will be you.
I locked my gaze on Ember and waited to see what she would do. She was like a wounded animal, and every time I reached my hand out, she’d bite, so this time I’d let her move first. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to move toward her.
She walked inside the entry hall, stopping close enough for me to kiss. Damn, she was beautiful. I would have killed for even a hint of what was going on behind those blue eyes. She blinked, but stayed silent.
I reached out before I could stop myself and palmed her cheek. “December?” Damn if she didn’t lean into my touch. It was there, the crackle of energy, the invisible tie that kept me tethered to her no matter how hard or far she pushed me away.
Her breath hitched as she turned into my hand, her lips parting as she skimmed over my skin, inhaling. Want slammed through me, and I forced it back on the bench. I wasn’t sure why she was here, or what she needed, but it wasn’t me pouncing on her.
Or maybe it is. I barely finished the thought before her mouth was on mine, hard and insistent. I was all too willing.
This wasn’t a gentle kiss, or even an apologetic one. It was open, carnal, and I sank into her, desperate to give her what we both craved. A growl ripped from my throat when she sucked my tongue into her mouth. God, she was warm.
I took control, stroking down her curves until her perfect ass filled my hands. With a squeeze, I brought her with me as I flipped to press her against the wall. Then I kissed her like I needed to, stroking her mouth with my tongue the way I’d used my fingers on her body back in Breckenridge—relentlessly and to every advantage.
Her fingers sank into my hair, and she moaned into my mouth, pushing me one step closer to losing what little control I had left. But when she rocked her hips against me, all thoughts of restraint fled. I licked down her neck, savoring her pulse against my tongue and the way she gasped when I gently kissed the patch of skin at the base.
Zip! Holy shit. She unzipped her hoodie, exposing miles of soft skin above her tank top. I picked her up, using the wall as leverage as I set my mouth to the delicate lines of her collarbone. Her taste, her scent, all of her surrounded me, blurring the outside world until there was only Ember.
I met her gaze, her eyes soft and hazed with the same lust streaking through my veins. “Josh,” she whispered, holding my face like I was something precious. I’d been a lot of things to a lot of different girls, but precious wasn’t really one of them, and she was infinitely more precious to me for it.
I set her down but didn’t back away, feeling every curve and hollow against my bare skin, and barely biting back a groan. I wish I’d had a shirt on. Oh, who the fuck was I kidding? Ten shirts couldn’t have protected me from Ember.
I kissed her again, using every ounce of skill I had to make her lose herself in the same way I had. I kept her guessing, never allowing her to settle into the kiss, changing the tempo, the pressure, anything to keep her as off-balance as she had me. She skimmed her fingers down my chest, along the lines of my stomach, and tensed. She dipped her fingers under the band of my flannel pants, and I was ready to rip every piece of clothing off her body so I could get to her skin. Another inch and she’d feel exactly how badly I wanted her.
Damn it. This was way too much, and not anything of what she actually needed. I’d be her whatever, but I had to draw the line when she was doing more harm than good. “December,” I whispered against her mouth, her lips swollen from mine, and pulled back just far enough to rest my forehead against hers. I closed my eyes until I had my body back under control. “I’m fucking desperate to carry you to my bedroom, but I don’t think this is what you want.”
Her eyes flew wide, and her skin stained pink before she hid behind her hands. “What am I doing?”
I got my shit under control, taking two deep breaths before I pulled her hands away. “What are you doing?”
“I came to say I’m sorry for the way I’ve been treating you. Sorry for the mixed signals.” She laughed. “But apparently I jumped you instead, and now I’m sorry for that, too.”
“Sorry for jumping me?” Hell no. I smiled. She could be sorry for pushing me away, for going from hot to cold faster than the kitchen faucet she used to put that fire out yesterday. But I wouldn’t let her apologize for giving me a few minutes to glimpse heaven.
“No. I’m not sorry for jumping you. I’m sorry about my god-awful timing.”
My smile slipped as I ran my thumb across the lips I was becoming obsessed with. “I told you I’m here for whatever you need, Ember. Jumping, apologies, whatever.”
“I’d better get back to studying.”
Boom. She may as well have slammed the door on me, and I retreated a step. “I’d better get in the shower.”
“Didn’t you just…?”
I let my mind wander to the shower, to what I could do to her body, pressed up against mine, water making her slick under my hands – how easy it would be to slide inside her. Stop. “Yeah, but I think I need another one at a different temperature.”
She flushed brighter pink. “Oh. I’m sorry about that, too.”
I couldn’t stop a grin from overtaking me. “I’m not.” I stepped forward until her back hit the wall, then bent down, a breath away from her lips, from what I knew we both wanted but wouldn’t push for. “If you apologize like that, feel free to treat me like shit any time you want. I will be your personal doormat.”




New Military Romance from Rebecca Yarros in
Hallowed Ground (Book Four) of the
Flight & Glory Series releases January 25th!
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1NeMPn1



**View Hallowed Ground Trailer HERE**








Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and lover of all things chocolate, coffee, and Paleo. In addition to being a mom, military wife, and blogger, she can never choose between Young Adult and New Adult fiction, so she writes both. She's a graduate of Troy University, where she studied European history and English, but still holds out hope for an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Her blog, The Only Girl Among Boys, has been voted the Top Military Mom Blog the last two years, and celebrates the complex issues surrounding the military life she adores.
When she's not writing, she's tying on hockey skates for her kids, or sneaking in some guitar time. She is madly in love with her army-aviator husband of eleven years. They finally can call Colorado home along with their gaggle of rambunctious kiddos and snoring English Bulldog.
Stalk Rebecca here:

 
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