Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Review & Giveaway: Debauched by Jennifer Dawson

Please note that this book is an Erotica book. If you are easily offended by these books, please come back another day when I post a review for something in another genre. I should have another review up Thursday.

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Welcome to my stop on the Debauched Blog Tour! I loved this book! It was one of the hottest books I've ever read. If you like a steamy read, you'll love this book. Below you'll find my review along with an excerpt from the book.


Debauched(Undone #3)
By Jennifer Dawson
Contemporary Erotic Romance w/BDSM elements
Release Date: April 26, 2016

SYNOPSIS

One night in a moment of sheer madness I confessed my secrets to him. All my life I’ve been pretending. Pretending to be the woman I thought I should be instead of the woman I really am. I’ve been faking it and I am good. No one has ever guessed. Except him. He just looked at me and knew. 

Chad Fellows is not the man I want, but he’s fast becoming the man I need.

One night in a moment of sheer madness I held her in my arms and let her cry. I did the right thing, letting her walk away, no matter how much she calls to the part of me that wants to rescue her. We are nothing alike, and she’s a mess of complications in a life I’m trying to keep simple. But then I touched her and made her tremble and now I can’t turn away. 


Ruby Stiles is not the woman I want, but she’s fast becoming the woman I need.

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MY REVIEW

Please note that I received a copy of this review in exchange for my honest review. It in no way affected my opinion of the book. Also, not that I have not read the first two books in this series. I didn't not feel that it affected my understanding of this book. However, I will be going back to read the first two when I find the time.
I loved this book! The only issue I had with it was that I found the female main character confusing from time to time. But really I think that was because the character was confused and didn’t know what she wanted. In the end it all worked out.

What I really liked was that we were on the journey into kinky sex with Ruby. A lot of books in this genre jump in with a character who has already been a part of this world and things are explained as you go along. Ruby was not part of the D/s world when we’re first introduced to her. She has friends who are part of that world. So we learn along with her. However, she wants no part of this world and does everything to avoid it. But then she meets Chad who is part of that world and she can’t stop thinking about him.

Chad is definitely a swoon-worthy guy! He thinks he can help Ruby. (I so want to put more here, but that gives away part of the plot-line.) He goes about helping her in a gentlemanly way without her really realizing he’s helping her.

Ruby is a little lost as far as life goals and is pretending to her friends to have her stuff together. Chad sees right through this and breaks down her walls. I like that as she relinquished control of her sex life to Chad she gained control of her personal/business desires and began to get her life together.

I tend to do a lot of my reading on my lunch break while at work. When I started reading this book, I purposely did not read it at work. However, there came a point in the book where I just had to keep reading and so I broke it out on my lunch break. I may have even continued to read it after my lunch was over just to finish the book - wink wink.

If you like this genre of books, you definitely need to give this book a shot!

 

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EXCERPT



Chapter 2

Chad


I keep my eye on Ruby Stiles, even though I want to forget that night where I’d held her in my arms while she cried. I have a lot going on right now, work’s crazy, I just got a promotion and my competition for the job now works for, and hates, me. I’ve got building development going on—a little side project I started with one of my friends— that’s now taken on a life of its own. I’m putting everything I have into business right
now and Ruby is not something I want to distract me. 


It’s why I didn’t press after I called her the day after Valentine’s and she gave me the brush off, even though I wanted to. I’d hung up the phone and sighed in relief, because when I’d called I’d been half afraid she’d want to follow up on what had gone down between us the night before. Most guys in my situation wouldn’t have called Ruby at all, but I’m unfailingly responsible, especially when it comes to women. I’d done the right thing, ensured she was okay, and asked if she needed to talk. She’d said
no. 


Responsibility absolved. That should have been the end of it. 

Only, I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind since that night. That strange, perception-altering night, where nothing played out as I’d been expecting. Before then, I’d always viewed Layla Hunter’s best friend as a pretty rocker girl with whom I have nothing in common. She’s beautiful and has a body that won’t quit, but she didn’t interest me that way I need a woman to interest me. 


Then Valentine’s happened and—I don’t know—something changed between us.

I can still feel her quivering, trembling body in my arms. The stain of tears on her cheeks as she looked up at me with her blue, watery, desperate gaze. Still remember thesound of her voice as she spilled her secrets.

She is nothing I need in my life right now. And even though I don’t want anything to do with the complications she presents, I can’t take my eyes off her. 

As Ashley drones on and on about a subject I can’t even remember, I watch Ruby and that ridiculous excuse for a man she brought with her tonight. She might not be my type, but she looks gorgeous. Her code of dress seems to vacillate from retro rocker topinup girl with an edge. Like a rebel Snow White.


She pulls it off very, very well. 

Tonight she’s decked out in an outfit right out of the nineteen forties, that slimfitted skirt and black-and-white top hugging every curve to perfection. She’s curled her shiny black, shoulder-length hair into sleek waves and even from across the room I can see the brilliance in her blue eyes. And then there’s her mouth, full and ruby red,matching her name.


She looks different from every other woman in the room, and when her dateslides a hand over her hip, I experience an inappropriate surge of possession.

As soon as he settles in next to her she darts a nervous glance in my direction. Our eyes lock, the air pulses, and she jerks her attention away from me. Right then Iknow her date is about me. That she’s brought him as a diversion.

“So what do you think?” Ashley says, ripping me from my thoughts.

I stare down at the cute little blonde who, in theory, is exactly what I need right now. She’s lush, pretty, and has a set of tits I could spend hours torturing. Best of all she’s not mentally taxing. I’m pretty sure she’s been discussing makeup for at least thirty minutes. She’s the kind of girl you take to dinner and don’t have to say a word because she talks a mile a minute.

I’ve clearly missed some sort of question. I give her my most winning smile. “I’m sorry, what did you ask?” I raise my hand to my ear and say in a too loud tone, “It’s kind of loud in here.”

She grins up at me, her expression brilliant and tinged around the very edges with desperateness. I’ve heard all about her trials and tribulations with the guy she used to hook up with. She’s on the rebound and I’m her prey.


She hasn’t seemed to cue into the fact that I’m not interested. What Ashley wants, I have no interest in giving her, and the truth is, I feel bad for her. She’s been screwed over enough. Only I don’t know her well enough to give her a much-needed lecture about men who don’t treat her the way she deserves.

Her lashes flutter and bat up at me in an exaggerated way. “I said I have tickets to the Bulls from work and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me.”

Oh hell. Now I’m going to have to hurt her feelings and I really don’t want to do that. But my lack of attention is not getting through to her, so I’m forced to be direct. I put my hand on her arm and her skin is cold. “Thank you, that’s very sweet, but I’m going to have to pass.”

Her expression falls but I trudge on. Ashley doesn’t realize this, but I’m doing her a favor by not wasting her time, and squashing any hope she might have for us. I want to give her the work excuse, but based off her history, that won’t cut it.

I rub my hand over her arm and smile. “I’m not an option for you, Ashley. I’m sorry about that, but you deserve a guy that is going to give you the time and energy you deserve, and I’m not that guy.”

She jerks a little under my touch. Her face twists for a moment before it surges with hope.


I repress my sigh. 

She puts her hand on my waist and I immediately drop my hand from her. She shakes her head and laughs a little. “That’s cute. But you’ve misunderstood; I’m not looking for anything serious. I’m not looking for commitment. I’m looking for fun. That’s all.”

All bullshit, but I’m more than happy to let her save face. She’s looking for the loophole most guys would fall into, but I’m not that easily manipulated. Most women confuse good guy with push over, thinking that I am not wise to their games, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I shrug. “I apologize if I misunderstood. But I’m not available.”

Her attention drops to my mouth, turning hungry. Annoyed, I glance over her head and see Ruby talking to Jillian Banks and Leo Santoro, she laughs at something they say and then her gaze catches mine.

She frowns, and then it disappears almost as though she’s caught herself. Which she probably has. I’ve noticed that about her. She filters everything. Reveals a glimpse of her true emotions before covering it up with what she believes she should feel.

“What about for fucking? Are you available for that?” Ashley’s words rip me back to her. She’s wearing a seductive expression and her hand has curled into the waistband of my pants. “We could go upstairs right now and I could blow your mind.”

I resist the urge to express my exasperation with her. In her defense, this approach would work on ninety-eight percent of guys, so it’s her misfortune I fall into the two percent. I contemplate my options. I could go stern, but she’d probably like that. I could continue being nice but assertive, but that doesn’t seem to be working. I run through a couple other choices but decide on the truth.

I wrap my fingers around her wrist and forcibly pull her off me. Then I look deep into her eyes and say with complete sincerity. “I am not an option for you. We are
friends and that’s where you and I will stay.”


Her expression falls again and her chin quivers the tiniest bit.

While I’m sympathetic, I don’t relent. I release her hand and reach up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “You’ve been hurt, Ashley. I’m sorry about that. But as a friend, let me tell you, this isn’t the way to mend your broken heart. A man won’t fix what’s broken inside you. You have to do that all on your own.”

Over her head I see Ruby climb the steps leading to the second floor.

I smile at Ashley. “I wish you luck. You deserve to be happy and I hope you findit. But I’m not your guy.”
Her eyes brighten. “Okay.”

I chuck Ashley under the chin. “You okay?”

She nods and points to a group of girls hovering around the kitchen island. “I should get back to my friends.”

I smile at her. “Sounds like a good plan.”

Ashley walks away, leaving me alone. I drain the rest of my drink and narrow my eyes on the stairs.

The last thing I should do is go upstairs.

I put my drink down on a small bar table.

But I’m going anyway.    

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GIVEAWAY 

  A tour wide giveaway for $25.00 Amazon gift card (Paypal for International winner) and eBook collection of the Undone series

 

Code:

Monday, April 25, 2016

Update Post

WEEKLY UPDATE

It has bee more than a week since my last update post. But I thought Periodic Update sounded  bit odd. I've still been reading and posting when I feel like it. I'm taking part in several upcoming blog tours. I've got a review coming tomorrow and Thursday. Then I've got between 1 to 3 posts per week scheduled (reviews & other blog tour stuff) until the middle of June.

I've had the urge to write a few times in the last two weeks and then got sidetracked by something else. I've been a bit distracted by Minecraft. Two weekends ago my son and I played for way too many hours. We're also in the middle of spring sports. My husband is coaching my son in trap shooting and baseball. I'm doing the scorekeeping for the trap shooting. So that has kept us busy several days a week. Now the end of school year activities are upon us - band concert & awards program.

My daughter is set to come home for the summer next weekend. I can't wait to get her back home. We'll be heading to Orlando for a family vacation in July. We're skipping Disney this year. We will be staying on Disney property. I think we'll probably end up at Universal for a couple of days. I want to get at least one beach day in. I'd really like to find a beach restaurant to eat at. Then I'm still looking for other things to do that we haven't done before. We've been several times and I'm trying to find new things to do that we were always to busy with Disney and/or Universal to be bothered with before.

You may have noticed that I stopped putting a rating on my reviews. It's something I've been thinking about for a while now. My ratings don't have much meaning to them. They are just an arbitrary number that I give the books. Instead I've decided to be sure to include what I liked about the book and what I didn't like. I felt like this was more important than a rating with no real meaning.

 Lastly, I've decided to take part in the Blog Ahead Mini event being hosted by The Herd Presents and running May 1 - 15. It's meant to get us to schedule more posts. I can always use help with doing this and it seems to help me to focus on my blog when I take part in an event like this. At this point I really don't have any goals. We'll just see what plays out. If you'd like to check it out as well, just click here.


Blog Ahead

Friday, April 22, 2016

2016 Reading Challenge March Update

I meant to post this update last week but didn't get to it. In March I read four books, but I didn't really pay attention to whether they'd count for my challenges. Once I compiled all the details, I realized that I only made progress on one of my challenges in March. I've been reading a lot of ARCs lately and I'm thinking that I probably won't do much better in April. Oh, well! Read on!


February Progress
None crossed off this month.

alphabet 2016
March Progress
Completed two more for this challenge.
D - Dark Secrets by A.M. Hudson
L - Love in B Minor by Elodie Nowodazkij
 

Goodreads Group - 2016 Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
March Progress
None completed this month.


MY GOAL: Mount Blanc, 24 books
Total Read To Date: 12 
March Progress
None added this month.
2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge
March Progress
I didn't read any more books for this challenge this month.

2016-Discussion-Challenge 
MY GOAL: Discussion Dabbler (1-12 Discussion Posts)
March Progress
I didn't post any discussion posts in February.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Review: Edge of Chaos by Molly E. Lee

Edge of Chaos (Love on the Edge, #1)

Edge of Chaos (Love on the Edge #1) by Molly E. Lee
Release Date: March 30, 2016
Genres: New Adult, Romance
Pages: 229
Source: E-Book

Goodreads Description:
Blake Caster has been in an emotionally abusive relationship with Justin for so long, she can’t tell what is normal anymore, and so she clings to the one thing that is solidly hers—her passion for extreme weather.

Three years into her Meteorology degree, Blake meets professional storm chaser, Dash Lexington, who is as gorgeous as he is daring. Instantly recognizing her passion and skills in analyzing weather data, he makes a spot for her on his tight-knit storm chasing team. Dash and Blake form a fast friendship and it forces her to realize just how toxic her relationship with Justin is. She can’t deny the lightning-worthy chemistry she has with Dash or how her heart stalls every time he gets too close to a tornado.

With each chase and the cherished moments with Dash, Blake discovers her own self-worth and gains the strength to end things with Justin for good. But he won’t go easily. As Blake tries to sever ties with one man, she fears she’ll lose the other to his dangerous obsession—and she doesn't know if she’ll be enough to save him from the impending storm that could end them all.

My Review
I started seeing previews for this book on Facebook before it released. I was immediately interested. I’d read one other book with a main character that was a storm chaser and really enjoyed it. Plus my daughter is studying meteorology in college. After I started reading the book I also discovered that Blake’s original college choice was one of my daughter’s top choices. One of the things I saw promoting this book was a contest for ARC copies of the book. I was really hopeful that I would win a copy - I wanted to read it that bad. I didn’t win though. So when the book released and I saw it was only $.99, I one-clicked it without hesitation.

I absolutely loved this book. Blake was in an abusive relationship. Originally I thought it was going to be a physically abusive relationship, but it was more mental abuse. She had known her boyfriend Justin for so long that she had begun to lose herself.

Then she meets Dash whose storm chasing blog she had fan-girled over and quickly becomes friends with him. They are both in relationships so there’s no pressure to be more than friends. They quickly find themselves confiding in each other like a best friend.

Dash quickly realizes how toxic Blake’s relationship with Justin is, but doesn’t want to push too hard to avoid damaging their friendship. The longer Blake is friends with Dash, the more she begins to see how Justin treats her is wrong. She eventually calls it quits with Justin, but still agonizes over his well-being. Dash makes the mistake of pushing Blake too much to show her just what a dirtbag Justin is and pushes her away from him in the process. They do eventually get their happy ending among the tornadoes.

I found nothing not to like about this book.  It was a fast-paced read. Blake knew what she wanted for her life as far as careers went and went for it. Dash was a perfect gentleman with a bit of playfulness to him that I immediately fell in love with. I will definitely be reading more of this author’s books when she releases them.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Blog Tour & Review: Broken Down by Amanda K. Byrne

 

I'm happy to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for Broken Down by Amanda K. Byrne! Check out the synopsis along with my review below. Be sure to enter the giveaway as well.


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Broken Down by Amanda K. Byrne
(Hidden Scars #2)
Publication date:
April 12th 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis:
The one thing he could do for her was let her go. Until he couldn’t.
When Thieves’ guitarist Shane Jones lost his close friend to a freak accident, Krista Conner helped him through the worst of his grief. He kept their late-night trysts a secret to protect her from the tabloids, and when she broke up with him, he let her go.
But he never got over her.
Months later, his world is rocked again by the death of his brother mere weeks before the biggest Thieves album yet. Grieving and desperate for peace, he tracks Krista down, craving the salvation he found in her sweet spirit. Only this time, he’s determined not to leave.
Krista left Shane because her life was a mess. She’s rebuilt it, piece by challenging piece, making some hard decisions along the way. She’s settled into a new city and a new life, and for the first time in a long time, she’s content and happy. Then Shane turns up, promising to stay, promising to care. Promising everything.
Shane’s the one she wants, but the toughest choice she made could drive him away for good.


Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble

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My Review
Let me start by saying that I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I should also note that I did not read book one in this series. In my opinion this book could definitely be read as a stand-alone. (To tell you the truth, I haven't even read the synopsis for book 1.)

I enjoyed this book. I always enjoy getting to see how people in other professions live their day to day life - especially if they're someone in the public eye. By the time we meet Shane though, he's making his exit out of the public eye - or at least trying to. So we don't see too much of how he copes with the public or what he does to cope. But I still enjoyed the small glimpse into his rockstar life. I also enjoyed the glimpse I got into Krista's graphic design world.

From the start you can tell that Shane and Krista have a strong emotional connection. You can also see that they're both avoiding getting hurt again by the other. I have to say that both characters frustrated me at times. I felt like telling them to get their words out of their heads and express them verbally to the other. They were both constantly thinking something to themselves and contemplating talking to the other and so often didn't follow through with the actual talk.

There is much going on in this book. There's also some sex. But the book isn't just about the sex. There is a story to be told. Shane and Krista both have issues they have to work through before they can find their happy ending. But they do eventually find their happy ending. I have to say that I was pleased with the fact that the author chose to make the characters go through a normal beginning to a relationship - dating with a kiss goodbye at the door.

We do get an epilogue at the end to see how their relationship is doing. We also get some resolution to the question of whether Shane will stay in the rockstar world or not. However, we still don't know whether he will remain a permanent fixture in the music world or whether he'll do a 180 and refurbish cars. I would have liked to know that. Who knows maybe we'll get to know more in future books in this series.

Overall, it was a good read and I'd definitely recommend this book to romance readers. There are some issues that some readers may be uncomfortable with -- drug use, overdoses, and abortion. So be forewarned.

Be sure to check out the other stops on the tour at http://xpressobooktours.com/2016/02/05/tour-sign-up-broken-down-by-amanda-k-byrne/ where you can read other's reviews, excerpts and author interviews.

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GIVEAWAY


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TEASER