Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Dodging Trains by Sunniva Dee


Dodging Trains
Sunniva Dee
Publication date: March 29th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
I was twelve when a stranger at a train station taught me the meaning of ugly. He forced himself on me and threatened to kill my family if I told.
I stayed silent and the ugliness grew.
Now, that word rolls in film clips through my mind. All I’ve done since my best friend, Keyon Arias, left town is cement how ugly I am. Ugly on the inside—deep down to my core. On the outside… I am a Vixen. I flash men a smile and make them moan out pleasure I control.
Not them. Never them.
After five years of being away, my beautiful boy has come back to town for his father’s masquerade ball. He’s different. Hard muscle supersedes the skin and bone of his once boyish frame. One thing hasn’t changed though: the murderous look in his eyes when he slaughters his opponents. In the ring, I see the bullied boy, all grown up, dominating in ways he couldn’t in high school.
He’s the mayor’s son. The rising MMA fighter. The beautiful one.
I’m not the Paislee Cain of before, not the sweet girl he once knew, the one who chased away his bullies. I’m the town slut. The dirty girl whose shame will never fade no matter how many men I use. He’d disown what I’ve become.
Because beautiful can never love ugly.
DT weight cut teaser
EXCERPT:
I’ve been on a one-track rail to landing Paislee in my bed since she got off the plane. Not that it’s been planned, but I convinced her that Pizza Pazza in Tampa is better than Mamma Lucia’s in Calceth. I told her about Simon during dinner, one thing led to another, and here I am unlocking the door to my duplex and letting her enter first.
She hasn’t commented on how we took my car from her hotel, how she’s basically dependent on me and my whims. But hey, I’m fucked too; it wasn’t my choice to have someone fill my head, and I didn’t ask that person to come to Florida.
We haven’t talked about tomorrow’s schedule, but I’m going to the rich dude’s house with her. He could be a total freak for all I know, so she’s not facing him alone.
“Oooh,” she whispers through a reverent puff of air like she’s never seen a cat before. Simon’s playing it up too, slinking around the corner with all the grace in the universe, stroking the doorjamb with a hip before he meanders over to us. “He’s soooo beautiful.”
“He’s just a regular old black street cat,” I say, but by the wink she shoots me, she doesn’t buy it. She read me back when too. “’Kay, fine: Simon’s awesome. Straight up the best pelt ever.”
“Pelt? You ass,” she giggles as she pets him from the top of his head and down the length of his body to his tail. Simon lifts it, happy. Any minute now, he’ll crank the volume on his purr-machine.
“Wow, he purrs loud.”
And there. For a cat, he’s being unexpectedly predictable.
“He loves the ladies,” I say, which makes her giggle more. I love to make her giggle. When she stands up again, I pull her in with one arm, fingers splayed across her spine. Firm breasts press against me, and I groan a little.
She puffs another laugh, all Simon’s fault. He’s gotten to the part of the agenda where he’s going to cramp my style. His purrs reach us from the floor, and he’s scissoring in and out between both of our legs.
“Never mind him. Look at me,” I whisper. Let my thumb and forefinger slide over her chin. The amusement recedes from her eyes when she sees that I mean business. I’m hardening. She yelps. Then she laughs out loud.
“Simon, quit it!” I say, exasperated, and bend to unhook his claws from the fabric over her knees. “I’m sorry. You see how it is now, right?
Simon’s the ass in this house. I should sell him to the highest bidder. Fifty cents flat will do. Come to think of it—I’ve got fifty cents in my pocket,” I say, kissing her down the corridor. “I could pay someone to take him. ‘Perfectly good cat with a year’s worth of free cat food.’”
Obviously, I’m digging my own grave here. There’s no hot lovemaking when your girl’s laughing so hard she’s about to pee herself.


Author Bio:
Between studies, teaching, and advising, Sunniva has spent her entire adult life in a college environment. Most of her novels are new adult romance geared toward smart, passionate readers with a love for eclectic language and engaging their brain as well as their heart while reading.
Born in the Land of the Midnight Sun, the author spent her early twenties making the world her playground. Southern Europe: Spain, Italy, Greece--Argentina: Buenos Aires, in particular. The United States finally kept her interest, and after half a decade in Los Angeles, she now lounges in the beautiful city of Savannah.
Sometimes, Sunniva writes with a paranormal twist (Shattering Halos, Stargazer, and Cat Love). At other times, it's contemporary (Pandora Wild Child, Leon's Way, Adrenaline Crush, Walking Heartbreak, and Dodging Trains, coming in late March 2016).
This author is the happiest when her characters let their emotions run off with them, shaping her stories in ways she never foresaw. She loves bad-boys and good-boys run amok, and like in real life, her goal is to keep the reader on her toes until the end of each story.

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Monday, March 28, 2016

It's Monday. What Are you Reading? March 28, 2016

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by The Book Date is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone.


My blog now has a Facebook page. You can connect with me there by clicking the link on the right side of the page. I'd be very grateful if you would like my page!

Finished Reading


I didn't finish anything this week, but have made good progress on the new book I started.

Currently Reading

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) Broken at Love (Whitman University, #1) A Dark Faerie Tale Books 1 & 2 
 
A Dark Faerie Tale by Alexia Purdy is a set of books 1 & 2 in the series. I've actually finished book 1, but am not counting it since I haven't finished the set. I'm really enjoying these books. They are my first faerie books. I should be posting a review soon.

I actually picked up Broken at Love again last Sunday night. But then I put it down for A Dark Faerie Tale.

What Will I Read Next?
 Broken Down (Hidden Scars, #2) Silent Orchids (The Age of Alandria, #1) 

Still haven't started Broken Down. It will be the next book I start. After that I've got several other ARCs to read. I'll either start another one of those or something else. Silent Orchids is a freebie I picked up last year and received an email from the author where her characters took over. It was a fun email. So this book has risen in my list.  

What are you reading? Feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Stacking the Shelves #16

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Welcome to my post for this week’s Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews. This is where I can post about the books and book swag I received this week. I will be posting my list on Sundays and will include anything I received Sunday through Saturday.

Here’s my list for this week.

FREEBIES
*Please check prices before one-clicking*

Broken (Reflections #1) Alpha Fighter (The Alpha Fighter, #1) Finding Gavin (Southern Boys, #2) A Night With Knox: (A Sexy Bastard Novella) 
The Withering Palace (A Dark Faerie Tale #0.1) Lightning Kissed (Lucent #1) Everblue (Mer Tales, #1) See (See #1; Web of Hearts and Souls #4) 
Descent (A Lost Tribe) Insight (Insight #1; Web of Hearts and Souls #1) Highlander's Castle (Highlander Heat, #1) The Decision:  The unforgettable 90 day  diary of a young woman as she struggles to decide her fate and that of her unborn child.

BOOKS TO REVIEW

A Dark Faerie Tale Books 1 & 2 

ARCs RECEIVED

Debauched (Undone, #3) 

BOOKS BOUGHT

Bound by Spells (Bound, #2) 

What did you pick up this week? Be sure and leave a comment with a link to your post so I can check out your Stacking the Shelves haul.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Book Blitz: Give Us A Chance by Allie Everhart

Give Us a Chance
Allie Everhart
(The Wheeler Brothers, #2)
Publication date: March 12th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Jake Wheeler doesn’t date. He has a one and done rule. Some would say he’s a player but he disagrees. He’s always upfront with a girl, letting her know he’s not interested in a relationship. That is until he meets Ivy.

A talented carpenter who can hold her own on a construction site, Ivy worked for Jake last summer. He asked her out but she turned him down. Now, months later, Jake is ready to try again. He can’t get this girl out of his head and he needs to figure out why. When he asks her out he assumes she’ll say no again, so he’s shocked when she actually says yes.

After the first date, Jake knows he’s in trouble. Ivy is actually someone he could see himself being with, for a lot longer than a night. But what Jake doesn’t know is that Ivy’s only going out with him to prove she’s not the girl for him. She’s dated his type before and doesn’t want to do it again. But is Jake really the player she thinks he is? And if not, is she willing to trust him with her heart?

Author’s Note: Give Us a Chance is a standalone and book two of The Wheeler Brothers, a series of standalone novels that each feature a different brother. Next to Me, featuring Jake’s older brother, Nash, is book one.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks

EXCERPT:

Jake

Before she gets in my SUV, I stop her and kiss those beautiful lips again. Then I slide my hand over her smooth silky hair and say, “It’s kind of a rule.”

“What’s a rule?”

“You kiss me before you get in the car.”

She smiles. “And why is that a rule?”

“It’s for good luck. It ensures we’ll have a safe drive. I’m very superstitious.”

“You didn’t do it last night.”

“Yeah. And thank God we didn’t get in an accident. But tonight, I’m not risking it. You need to kiss me before you get in.”

“Every time? That’s too much.”

“It’s for our safety. People drive like maniacs around here.”

“Fine. I’ll go along with it but only because your kisses are…” She glances to the side. “Not completely horrible.”

I laugh. “What the hell? Not completely horrible? That’s how you describe my kisses?”

“What did you want me to say?”

“That the kiss I gave you was the best kiss you’ve ever had. That I kiss like a freakin’ pro. An expert. Someone who could give lessons to all the idiots you’ve kissed before who didn’t know what the hell they were doing.”

“You’re awfully full of yourself, you know that?” Her lips tick up.

“I know when I’m good at something and I’m not afraid to admit it.” I step forward, backing her against my SUV, my eyes on hers. “And I fucking know how to kiss.”

“You really think so?” She leans back but there’s nowhere for her to go.

“I know so.” And with that, I grip the back of her head and bring her mouth to mine and kiss her hard. She grabs my coat and yanks me closer and I thrust my tongue in her mouth. It lashes with hers in a heated frenzy, and then we both slow down, parting just enough to breathe each other’s air, our bodies relaxing. And then I kiss her again, softly, gently, my hand still cradling her head, and we continue on as if we’re not standing in a parking lot in the middle of winter. As if we’re the only two people here, despite the cars driving down the street and the people walking by. We’re completely lost in the moment, lost in each other. It’s surreal, and I don’t understand it because I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Ivy lets go of my coat and I look at her and see that her face is expressing exactly what I’m feeling. Uncertainty. Doubt. Fear. Because we both know there’s something here. There’s something between us. Something we haven’t felt with anyone else, and never in a million years expected to find with each other.

I don’t know what I was expecting with Ivy. Maybe she was just an experiment to see if I could really date a girl without it being about sex. Or maybe I was just determined to convince her to go out with me since she’s only the girl who’s ever said no. But when she finally said yes, I never expected THIS. This overwhelming need to make her mine and never let her go. Where is this coming from? It can’t just be from a kiss, can it?


Author Bio:

Allie Everhart is a hopeless romantic who writes books about love. Allie has authored fifteen novels, including The Jade Series, a college romance that follows the story of Jade and Garret as they deal with numerous obstacles trying to tear them apart. Her other series, The Kensingtons, is a romantic suspense series. Her standalone romance novels include Next to Me, and her latest book, Give Us a Chance.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter


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Monday, March 21, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? March 21, 2016

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by The Book Date is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone.

Finished Reading

Dark Secrets (Dark Secrets, #1) 
This was a re-read for me. I've recently purchased Book #4 and needed to refresh myself on what happens in Book #1-3. With this reread I've come to realize that I love vampire stories and can't get enough of them. This book definitely resembles Twilight in the general theme of human girl falls in love with vampire. Vampire realizes he can't put human girl in danger and disappears leaving the girl in a deep depression. However, this book and series pulls more elements in (a love triangle for one). 
 
I plan to read Books 1-4 and do a in depth review once I finish. But in the meantime I wanted to put my thoughts out there about this book. If you look at the reviews on Goodreads, you'll see a lot of 1, 2, and 3 star reviews. I urge you to give it a try. At time of this writing, Dark Secrets is currently free for Kindle on Amazon.

Currently Reading

A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) Broken at Love (Whitman University, #1) 
So, it's been 11 days since I picked up A Game of Thrones and over a month since I picked up Broken At Love. But I've just been reading other books. I will resume these books soon.

What Will I Read Next?
Broken Down (Hidden Scars, #2) Lightning Kissed (Lucent #1) Lichgates (The Grimoire Saga, #1) Promise (Soul Savers, #1) 
 
Broken Down is my next ARC that I need to read. But before I get to it, I feel like reading something Paranormal in nature and think I've narrowed it down to the other three above. If you have any opinions on these three, please share them in the comments and help me decide. 

What Are You Reading?

Book Blitz: In the Hope of Memories by Olivia Rivers



Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for In the Hope of Memories by Olivia Rivers. I'm really excited to read this one. Happy Reading!

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In the Hope of Memories
Olivia Rivers
Publication date: March 21st 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Hope is dying.
Hope Jackson has lived her short life to the fullest, but her four closest friends are dangling on the brink of disaster. Right before dying of a rare heart condition, Hope sets up a scavenger hunt across New York City using her graffiti art. The directions she leaves her friends are simple: Solve the clues hidden in her art, and they’ll solve the problems haunting their lives.
Hope is dead.
Two days after her heart fails, Hope’s friends are thrown together:
Aiden, her best friend, whose plans to attend college have been scattered by his OCD.
Kali, her foster sister, whose last ties to sanity are as razor-thin as her anorexic waistline.
Erik, her high school crush, whose success as an athlete is based on a lie with no end in sight.
And Sam, her online pen-pal, whose perfect life exploded into chaos in the aftermath of a school bombing.
Together, the four teens take to the streets of New York to complete Hope’s scavenger hunt and fulfill her dying wishes. But in order to unravel the clues hidden in Hope’s graffiti, her friends will need to confront their personal demons head on.
Hope is within reach.

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EXCERPT:
"Let me get this straight," I say to Aiden. "You want me to go to some random bakery in a random part of town, with you, a random person I don't even know, to search for some random clue that's part of a random scavenger hunt that might not even exist. And all this because of a piece of string and a mention of a fortune cookie."
"Yes," Aiden says, like this is the most natural thing in the world.
I'm about to scoff when I remember something else from that first day I met Hope. We'd been talking casually, just getting to know each other, when suddenly she'd mentioned that she had a little sister named Kali. And I'd been like, "Really? That's crazy, because I do, too. Her name’s actually Kalina, but we all call her Kali."
And Hope had just given this little smile and held up her left hand, showing off a bracelet made of braided red thread. I can still remember exactly what she said: "It's not crazy. It's fate."
And she'd gone on to tell me all about this old Chinese myth about The Red String of Fate, and honestly, it sounded like a load of crap to me. But she was so enthusiastic that I actually liked hearing about it, and from then on, it became a thing between us. Whenever anything even mildly coincidental would happen, we'd both stop whatever we were doing, point to each other, and say, "Fate!" I'd always say it all jokey, and she'd always sound dead-serious, but we'd both be smiling.
I stare down at the invite, this time letting my gaze hover on her flowing signature, just as bright and bold as her personality. Maybe, just maybe, Aiden is right. Maybe Hope did want us to go to that bakery, and maybe the color of the string and the fortune cookie reference aren't coincidence. And if she did want us to take off on some crazy scavenger hunt... Well, I can't exactly ignore her dying wish, can I?
"Okay, Hope," I murmur, running my thumb over her signature. "Let's go find ourselves some fate."

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Author Bio:
Olivia Rivers is a hybrid author of Young Adult fiction. Her works include the independently published novels “Frost Fire” and “In the Hope of Memories,” along with the traditionally published novel “Tone Deaf” (Skyhorse 2016.) As a certified geek, she enjoys experimenting with new publishing technologies, and her online serials have received over 1,000,000 hits on Wattpad.com. When Olivia isn’t working as a writer, she’s a typical teen attending college in Northern California. Olivia is represented by Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary, and nothing thrills her more than hearing from readers.
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Author Interview
1.  Can you tell us a little about your new book?
Absolutely! “In the Hope of Memories” tells the story of Hope, a young, eccentric graffiti artist who’s stuck in the foster system. When Hope gets diagnosed with a terminal heart condition, she realizes that her four best friends are on the brink of ruining their lives, and that they might fall apart once she dies and isn’t there to support them anymore. So Hope uses her graffiti art to create an elaborate scavenger hunt that’s meant to “fix” her friends so she can die in peace and know they’ll be alright without her.

2. Do you have a favorite character?
Asking authors this question is like asking a parent who their favorite child is. So my answer is Aiden, because I am terrible enough to actually pick favorites. Aiden is intensely logical, loyal, and moral. He’s a total sweetheart, and I see him as being everything that’s right with the world. But since he has OCD and an autism spectrum disorder, the world sees him as being “wrong,” just because no one else understands him. As an author, writing Aiden’s character was both a heart-warming and gut-wrenching experience, and he’ll always be a favorite of mine.

3. What genre is “In the Hope of Memories?”
That’s a very good question, and since the book stretches across lots of different YA genres, everyone from my agent to my author friends can’t quite figure out the answer. However, I think my critique partner managed to sum it up pretty well: “It’s like if a Colleen Hoover book had a baby with The Breakfast Club, and that baby was given a huge dose of shitty luck and LSD.”

4. Are any of the characters from “In the Hope of Memories” based off yourself?
Nope, definitely not! I’m a very reserved person, so the thought of sticking myself in a book for all the world to see is… horrifying. That being said, my characters ended up with a few of my own quirks. I can’t tell the difference between right and left, just like my character Erik, and this causes all sorts of shenanigans when someone has to give me driving directions. And like my character Sam, I also enjoy wearing The Flash t-shirts when I use my wheelchair, because irony really is the best medicine. Also, my laptop named Vladimir makes a cameo appearance in “In the Hope of Memories.” (R.I.P. Vladimir.) But, aside from tiny quirks like that, none of the characters or events in the book are based on my real life.

5. Is “In the Hope of Memories” connected to any of your other books?
Yes, in some ways, it definitely is! While the plots don’t directly intertwine, if readers look carefully, they’ll find references to my other books within the pages of “In the Hope of Memories.”
 
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Sunday, March 20, 2016

Stacking the Sheves #15

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Welcome to my post for this week’s Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews. This is where I can post about the books and book swag I received this week. I will be posting my list on Sundays and will include anything I received Sunday through Saturday.

It's been another busy two weeks for me. I've come across some books lately that I'm really looking forward to reading. Here's a look at what I picked up recently.

FREEBIES
*Please check prices before one-clicking*

Love, Your Concierge (Concierge, #1) Forever Ours (Shattered Hearts, #1) Rock Stars Do It Harder (Rock Stars Do It, #1) Big Girls Do It Better (Big Girls Do It, #1) 
On the Rocks (Last Call, #1) With You (Tear Asunder, #0.5) The Key of Kilenya (Kilenya #1) The Boss's Son - Part 1 (The Boss's Son #1) 
A Stone in the Sea (Bleeding Stars, #1) Fighting Silence (On the Ropes, #1) Little Love Affair (Southern Romance #1) The Counterfeit Bride (Boundless Billionaires) 
Sing Your Heart Out: A Rock Star Romance (Sinful Serenade, #1) The Last Knight (Pendragon, #1) Finding Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld, #1) Alexa Crushed (Alexa, #1) 
True Valor (True Heroes Military Romance #1) LUCIEN: A Standalone Romance Third Daughter (Royals of Dharia, #1) Hiding in the Spotlight 
The Resurrection of Aubrey Miller 


ARCs RECEIVED

The Workaholic and the Realist (New Hampshire Bears Book 2) 

BOOKS TO REVIEW

Cross the Stars (Crossing Stars #1) Game of Fear

What did you pick up this week? Be sure and leave a comment with a link to your post so I can check out your Stacking the Shelves haul.