Monday, December 22, 2014

BLOG TOUR ~Something Reckless by Lexi Ryan~

Title: Something Reckless
Series: Reckless & Real #1
Author: Lexi Ryan
Release Date: December 22, 2014

My Rating: 5 FANTASTIC Stars!

He talks dirty to me, but I don’t know his name.

He wants to tie me up, but I don’t know his face.

He turns me on, but I couldn’t point him out in a crowd.

I’ve fallen for an anonymous stranger, and tonight the anonymity ends. Tonight I want more than typed secrets and texted promises. I want something reckless. Heat. Passion. The thrill of being entirely possessed.

Because I suspect this anonymous stranger isn’t a stranger at all.

Lizzy Thompson met riverrat69 online through Something Real, a service promising to deliver meaningful relationships by forbidding its users to share names or photos until they’ve reached a certain benchmark. She was looking for love. He was researching an investment. They hit it off. Talked and flirted, hid behind screen names and cartoon avatars.

Now they’re breaking the rules and meeting in person. But Liz is prepared. She’s picked up hints and followed clues.

She’s ninety-percent convinced she’s discovered the identity of her dirty-talking online friend.

She wonders if her ex-lover Sam Bradshaw knows her identity too.

When she rolls the dice on one reckless night, her chance at something real could crumble.
This book is simply perfect. Ms. Ryan took circumstances under which I would normally disconnect from the characters, and instead made me empathize with them and become so entranced by their story. Sam and Liz are more similar than they'd like to think and when they finally give into the attraction that's been burning for a while, it's simply explosive. Yet, they're derailed multiple times afterwards and when they finally reconnect both have even more secrets that they're hiding than before. And we all know secrets don't make for the best relationships. However, despite the mismatched pair, and the skeletons lurking about these two could not be more mean for one another. 

To me, Sam and Liz brought out the best in one another. They both feel the urge to be worthy of the other and in general they're a very cohesive pair in and out of bed. Don't get me wrong the chemistry between these two is simply volcanic, but in their daily exchanges I just found myself grinning like a fool when they were together. Maybe it's because as a reader you see both POVs  and know what the other is going through and know that they wholeheartedly deserve each other. 

However, it's like having dominoes all lined up and you hit one and they all fall down. That's what this book was for me. Going into it I knew Ms. Ryan per usual was going to rip my heart out, trust me she delivered. I saw the fragile pieces start to fall apart and just started shaking my head. Liz and Sam are put through the absolute wringer in this book. I have to confess, when I first started reading this book, my ereader was malfunctioning and on two separate occasions it opened up to two HUGE spoiler pages. And I will admit, that the spoilers I inadvertently read almost made me DNF this book. BUT, I put my faith in  Ms. Ryan, because she has yet to write a book I wasn't head over heels in loe with, and trudged on. I couldn't be more glad that I did. Read out of context, or without connecting with characters first those spoilers could definitely turn a reader off of this book, but Ms. Ryan made, what could be, unredeeming qualities completely understandable and actually made me connect MORE with the characters. I don't know how she does it. It's quite possible there's subliminal messages in her books, but either way this one blew me away. Liz and Sam have officially crept to the top of my favorite New Hope couples. Until further notice (aka when Something Real shows up on my bookshelf) I'll be sitting wracking my brain as to how this will all play out. There's so many twists and tuns that haven't finished yet, I'm nervous yet thrilled to see where they all go. And more importantly how Sam and Liz will fair in the end. End of story - an absolute MUST read!

Happy Reading!
*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*

Links to Buy:

THE RECKLESS & REAL SERIES



Meet Lexi:
Once a college English professor, I now write full time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I’m not writing, I get to hang out with my husband and two kids–a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I enjoyed before I had children. When I’m feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I’m really, really slow) or do yoga. Don’t worry, I’m always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.




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Monday, December 15, 2014

BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY ~Free Me by Laurelin Paige~

Title: Free Me
Author: Laurelin Paige
Series: Found Duet #1
Release Date: December 9, 2014
Her story began long before she started working at The Sky Launch...

Screw fairytales. The only reward Gwen Anders got from her rough childhood was a thick skin and hard heart. She’s content with her daily grind managing a top NYC nightclub—Eighty-Eighth Floor. So hers isn’t a happily ever after. She doesn’t believe in those anyway.


Then she meets J.C.

The rich, smooth talking playboy is the sexiest thing that Gwen has ever encountered, but she’s not interested in a night-in-shining latex. But when a family tragedy pushes her to the brink, it’s J.C. who’s there to teach her a new method of survival, one based on following primal urges and desires. His no-strings-attached lessons require her to abandon her constant need for control. Her carefully built walls are obliterated.

Gwen discovers there’s a beautiful world outside her prison. Freedom is exhilarating—and terrifying. When she starts to feel something for J.C., she fears for her heart. Especially as she realizes that he has secrets of his own. Secrets that don't want to set him free.

BOOK ONE OF TWO. This series can be read alone or with the Fixed Trilogy.
Links to Buy:

Meet Laurelin:
Laurelin Paige is the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She's a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there's kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn't seem to complain, however. When she isn't reading or writing sexy stories, she's probably singing, watching Mad Men and the Walking Dead, or dreaming of Adam Levine.






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Wednesday, December 10, 2014

BLOG TOUR ~Ripped by Katy Evans~

Title: Ripped
Author: Katy Evans
Series: Real #5
Release Date: December 9, 2014

My Rating: 5+ Stars!
A ripped rock star with attitude. An ex-girlfriend with a reckless plan.
Pandora assumed getting her heartbroken by her bad boy ex could only happen once--until Mackenna Jones comes back to town for the biggest concert of his career. They say girls are getting pregnant just thinking about the Crack Bikini tour and it's destined to be a huge hit.

Oh, it'll be a hit alright--when Pandora comes out swinging. She and her friend Melanie are determined to humiliate him onstage. But when they're caught by security and her ex is summoned, Mackenna decides not to press charges if she'll join him on tour and follow certain conditions--rules designed to give him the upper hand and keep her in close contact with him once again. Soon, the passion they once shared is reignited, and no matter how much Pandora wants to hate him, her hard exterior starts to crack.

And worse: Mackenna knows it, too. But he hasn't uncovered all her secrets...
An absolutely delicious layer on top of an already perfect cake. Ripped brings the alpha, sweet male together with the brooding, heartbroken heroine. And when they're thrown together after years apart, their chemistry still has the power to singe you. Pandora and Mackenna are a true match, yet fate had a little helping hand in the demise of their budding relationship years ago. Now they both feel spurned and they've turned revenge into the best form of foreplay.

Katy Evans has the adorable, and endearing ability to mix sorrow, elation, erotica, and heart-wrenching love into books that you can consider me obsessed with. She has not written a book that I have not devoured. Ripped was no exception. I call it an "all the feels" book. I truly went through such a a wide range of emotions while reading Mackenna and Pandora's story. And one of the true reasons why I get a bigger affect with these character than others is because of the dual POV. By seeing the world and experiencing it through Kenna's and Pandora's eyes it was like I was living their life, or was just a very, very close bystander.

Of course this book played on one of my weaknesses as a reader - second chances with heartache. Pandora and Kenna had two very different views for the same devastating break up. It left both of them in tatters. Yet, years later when they're supposedly moved on with their lives and play by the "out of sight, out of mind" rule, they still run rampant in each other's memories. And as the truths become more visible, the holes dig a little deeper. But it's like cleaning a room, or stitching an open wound - it's going to get worse before it gets better. However, once all of the defenses are broken down, I have to say Kenna and Pandora completely won my heart. They are literally the best versions on themselves when they're together. They have a love that people yearn for and it leaps off the pages and gives you the ultimate warm-fuzzies. And what every romance reader wants to know about - the sex - fear not, it's downright scorching. As much passion as they put into their fighting they return it ten-fold between the sheets.

This addition to the Real series is in a way mind blowing. I can't ever get enough, I'm wowed at every turn, and I never want to put any of these books down. I'm convinced Ms. Evans has put subliminal messages in her books to enrapture me the way they do. This is hands down one of my top favorites of the year AND will make the golden re-read shelf. I simply cannot wait to see what else is in store for us from this author. Please go pick up a copy of Ripped today, I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Please note this CAN be read as a standalone in the series!

*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for and honest review*

Links to Buy:

OTHER BOOKS IN THE REAL SERIES


BOOK #1 - REAL
Amazon / BN / iBooks
BOOK #2 - MINE
Amazon / BN / iBooks
BOOK #3 - REMY
Amazon / BN / iBooks
BOOK #4 - ROGUE

Meet Katy:
Katy Evans grew up with books and book-boyfriends until she found a real sexy boyfriend to love, married him, and now they are hard at work on their own happily ever after. Katy loves her family and friends, and she also loves reading, walking, baking, and being consumed by her characters until she reaches “The End.” Which is, hopefully, only the beginning...







Connect with Katy:

Feel free to follow along on the rest of the RIPPED Blog Tour! Find the schedule here

Friday, December 5, 2014

EXCERPT REVEAL ~Ripped by Katy Evans~

Title: Ripped
Author: Katy Evans
Series: Real #5
Release Date: December 9, 2014
A ripped rock star with attitude. An ex-girlfriend with a reckless plan.
Pandora assumed getting her heartbroken by her bad boy ex could only happen once--until Mackenna Jones comes back to town for the biggest concert of his career. They say girls are getting pregnant just thinking about the Crack Bikini tour and it's destined to be a huge hit.

Oh, it'll be a hit alright--when Pandora comes out swinging. She and her friend Melanie are determined to humiliate him onstage. But when they're caught by security and her ex is summoned, Mackenna decides not to press charges if she'll join him on tour and follow certain conditions--rules designed to give him the upper hand and keep her in close contact with him once again. Soon, the passion they once shared is reignited, and no matter how much Pandora wants to hate him, her hard exterior starts to crack.

And worse: Mackenna knows it, too. But he hasn't uncovered all her secrets...
Rage bubbles up inside me full force.

“Now?” Melanie keeps asking me.

I. Loathe. Him.

“Now?” she asks again.

I loathe him. He’s the only boy I’ve ever kissed. He took kisses that meant everything to me and turned them into a joke of a fucking song. A song that turns me into some sort of Eve, torturing and teasing him to sin. He is the sin. He is the penitence, the hell, and the devil, all in one.

I reach into my bag, nicely tucked under my poncho, and grab the first thing I find.

“Now,” I whisper.

Before Mackenna knows what hit him, Melanie and I have sent three tomatoes and a couple of eggs flying through the air.

The orchestra music isn’t enough to drown out his muttered “fuck,” audible through the microphone.

His jaw clamps and he yanks the mic down over his chin as he jerks his eyes around to find the source of the attack. I feel delirious when I see the genuine anger on his face. I squeal, “The rest!” and grab the remaining things we brought and just keep throwing. Not only at him, but at anyone who tries to get in the way—like the stupid dancers who rush to protect him. One of them makes a whimpering noise as an egg hits her face, and Mackenna jerks her back by the arm so he can take the hits himself, his furious eyes trying to find us in the crowd.

Then I hear Melanie shout, “Hey! LET GO, asshole!”

My arms are yanked behind me, and I’m suddenly shoved and pulled out of my place and down the aisle.

“Let go of us!” Melanie cries, struggling as two burly guards drag us away. “If you don’t let go of me right now, my boyfriend’s going to find your home and kill you in your sleep!”

The guard yanks me back harder, and I catch my breath as pain rushes up my arm.

“Asshole,” I hiss, but I don’t even bother to struggle. Melanie’s getting nowhere and I know it.

“She knows them! She knows the band! Who do you think he was singing about just now, asshole?” Melanie kicks into the air. “She’s Pandora! Let us fucking go.”

“You know Mr. Jones?” one guard asks me.

“Mr. Jones!” I scoff. “Seriously! If Mackenna’s a mister, I’m a unicorn!”

They seem to chuckle among themselves as they lead us past more security, around the stage, and to a small room in the back. One guy starts speaking into a radio as he unlocks the door.

Melanie struggles and tries to kick out, but the enormity of what could happen starts settling on me, and I grow quiet.

Holy. Shit. What have I done?

“You don’t have to look so happy, dickface. My boyfriend will find your home too and kill you next!” she tells the other guard.

They yank a door open and shove us inside. I stumble as I take a step, fighting for some dignity as I wiggle free of his grip. “Let go,” I grit, and he finally releases me.

The radio transmitter on his hip emits a sound. A voice says something I can’t make out, but it sounds a lot like cursing.

“Remove these,” one of the guards commands, pointing at our ponchos.

I pry the plastic off my body and Melanie does the same, then we watch helplessly as they strip us of the bags we’d hidden underneath the ponchos.

Melanie groans when they set our things on a table to the side. Cell phones. Two more tomatoes. Car keys.

“Wow. You guys can’t take a little joke now, can you?” Melanie asks them with a haughty little scowl.

I close my eyes and try to quell the panic rising in me.

Fuuuuck. What was I thinking?

I haven’t done anything this reckless in years.

And it felt good.

Also wrong. Very, very wrong.

But good. Great, in fact.

Hell, I can still picture the pissed, disbelieving look on Mackenna’s face. It gave me intense pleasure. Orgasmic pleasure. But now the intense feeling I’m experiencing is more along the lines of paralyzing fear.

What if the guards call him into the room to ask if he does, indeed, know me?

What if I have to stand here in this small stuffy room and look at him from thisclose!

I feel sick to my stomach. Later, Melanie’s going to want explanations. Big-time explanations; more than what I’ve told her so far. She’s going to have to tell Greyson what happened, and he’s going to want to know everything, because these stupid security guards messed with his girl. I don’t even know if I can explain to her the kind of past Mackenna and I share. January 22: the day I unfailingly get drunk and don’t bother to even see the light of day—I’d sworn to myself I’d never discuss that day. But Melanie and Greyson? They will want me to open my box of secrets. Of me and Mackenna Jones.

Hot, wet mouths melding . . .

Him, pushing into me, stretching me, taking me, loving me . . .

Promises.

Lies.

Loss.

Hatred.

The kind of hatred that’s only born of an intense, out-of-this-world love that went woefully wrong.

What am I going to say to him if I see him?

What am I going to do?

Please god, don’t punish me by making me look at him thisclose.

I pace and pray, pace and pray while Melanie studies her nails, the wall, and me, sighing with the bored confidence of someone who knows she’s getting out of here intact. If I see Mackenna, I really doubt it'll be so easy. My stomach’s already in knots, and I’m having the most awful urge to vomit right now.

The concert seems to last forever. One of the guards comes and goes while the other opts to stand a few feet behind Melanie, standing all military-like, as if waiting for something.

Oh god, please let that something not be Mackenna.

I’m wearing off a layer of my boots’ soles when, a century later, the door swings open and a chubby man in a suit and tie steps in. My blood pools in my feet from my nervousness. Lionel Palmer, the band manager, also known as “Leo.” I saw his face and interview in this morning’s paper, but I have to say he looked much happier in that picture.

He glares at us—Melanie glaring back, me standing motionless—and his hands make meaty fists at his sides.

“Have you any idea what you just did?” he grits out, chubby cheeks blazing red. “How long we could keep you two cozy in a fucking lady prison? What kind of fucking fans are you?”

“We’re not fans,” Melanie says.

The door swings open and the twins, in all their male glory, join the melee. They look intimidating all the time, but now—with their blond hair, odd-color eyes, and perfectly pissed-off scowls—they’re a force to be reckoned with.

I can’t breathe.

“Who the fuck are these bitches?” the one with the snake tattoo demands.

“I’m getting to that, Jax,” Lionel says.

So the other one must be Lexington. He charges forward and looks at me, eyebrow piercing and all, then he looks at Melanie. He points his index finger, swinging it from her to me. “I hope you two have a lot of money, because one of our dancers is injured. If she’s screwed up for Madison Square Garden—”

“Don’t worry, Pandora, Greyson will take care of this,” Melanie says easily.

“Pandora,” Lionel repeats suddenly. He grows still, his eyes sliding back to me. “Your friend called you Pandora. Why?”

“Because it’s my name? Duh.”

I’m in the middle of rolling my eyes when the door swings open and a figure fills the space. I don’t think my heart is beating anymore. I feel like someone is strangling me and punching me on the inside.

Mackenna.

A few feet away.

In the same room as me.

Bigger and manlier than ever.

He kicks the door shut behind him. He’s wearing aviators, so I can’t see his eyes, and ohmigod, I hate him with a passion. I came here to hurt him, but I’m so overcome by my anger, I can’t seem to do anything but stand here with my breath getting trapped in my lungs, my heart squeezing in my chest, my body trembling as all my suppressed anger bubbles up inside me.

He is tall and dark, and the remains of a red gooey liquid trickle down his chest.

But what a perfect chest, with its thin trail of hair that leads the way from his navel to his dick. Tight leather pants mold to his bulging thighs. A bulging cock too. I swear girls might think he sticks a loaf of bread down his pants, but I can assure you that fucker is real. As huge as his fucking ego, and I remember it used to get as hard as his fucking head.

Not everyone can pull off a buzz cut, or a diamond stud earring, but he has a perfectly shaped head that makes you want to curl your hands around it and trace the curves with your lips. The diamond glints almost menacingly in his right ear, and when he takes off the sunglasses with an angry jerk, I see his brilliant, furious silver eyes, and I swear that it feels like coming home.

To a home that was wrecked, and burned, and there’s nothing left, but it’s still your home.

How fucked up is that?

God, please let him not be real. Let this be a nightmare. Let him be on the other corner of the world while I hate him safely from my corner in Seattle.

“She’s fucking Pandora?” Lionel asks Mackenna.

When Mackenna’s hard jaw only tightens, Lionel turns slowly around to study me. My brain is a tangle of confusion because Mackenna is staring straight at me like he can’t believe I’m standing here.

I can barely take his steely gaze. I thought this night would give me closure. That I could make him feel in front of his fans like I felt when he left: humiliated. Instead he stands there, every inch the rock god, even with tomato puree on his chest. He owns the room, carrying that unnamable X factor that nobody can pinpoint but that he has in spades, that tells you he owns this room and everyone in it.

And that fact only serves to piss me off further.

“Lionel,” he says in a low, warning tone.

Just one word makes Lionel ease back. Now nothing stops Mackenna from staring straight at me.

My face burns as I remember how I loved him. Deep, hard, completely.

Don’t think about that. You hate him now!

“Nice hair.” He shoves his glasses into the belt loops of his pants.

His voice, oh god.

His eyes run down the length of my hair, and Melanie offers, “I suggested she add a little spirit to her hair, so at least she looks happy.”

He doesn’t even look at Melanie. He looks at me in the most intense way, specifically the pink strand in my hair, waiting for me to answer. I loathe that pink strand, but not as much as I loathe him.

“Nice tights,” I return, and gesture to his leather pants. “How’d you get into them? From the top of a building and with a pound of butter?”

I refuse to let his chuckle move me, but I feel it run down my legs as he starts approaching. “No need to use butter anymore. These pants are a part of me.” He holds my gaze helplessly trapped. “Like you were a part of me once.”

He’s coming closer, and every step affects me. My cheeks burn. The gall of him to remind me. I’m so angry. Years of hurt simmer in me. Of loneliness and betrayal.

“Fuck you, Mackenna.”

“Already done, Pandora.”

Links to Buy:

OTHER BOOKS IN THE REAL SERIES

BOOK #1 - REAL
Amazon / BN / iBooks
BOOK #2 - MINE
Amazon / BN / iBooks
BOOK #3 - REMY
Amazon / BN / iBooks
BOOK #4 - ROGUE

Meet Katy:
Katy Evans grew up with books and book-boyfriends until she found a real sexy boyfriend to love, married him, and now they are hard at work on their own happily ever after. Katy loves her family and friends, and she also loves reading, walking, baking, and being consumed by her characters until she reaches “The End.” Which is, hopefully, only the beginning...







Connect with Katy: