Wednesday, September 23, 2015

BLOG TOUR + REVIEW ~Blow by Kim Karr~

Title: Blow
Author: Kim Karr
Series: Tainted Love #1
Release Date: September 19, 2015

My Rating: 5 Stars!!
2 fatal sides.
1 epic love.
7 days to survive.

They met in the face of danger. They weren’t looking for love. They both knew better. But they couldn’t stay away, and they fell hard.

He is heart-stopping handsome, fearless—and haunted by deadly ties.

She is breathtakingly beautiful, determined—and in harm’s way.

They should have parted. They didn't. They never should have fucked. They did. And now time is running out. One hundred sixty eight hours. That’s all that remains. While Logan McPherson fights to save them, Elle Sterling is forced to make a choice that could change everything.

When torn between right and wrong, tainted love doesn’t have a chance… or does it?
Prologue

Four Months Before
Logan

Mile after mile, I ran. Faster, feet pounding against the broken asphalt, breath crystalizing in the air. I’d been fleeing along the edge of the road for what seemed like eternity. Trucks zoomed past me, taillights fading in the distance, and still there were no sirens.

The moon slipped behind a cloud and left me moving blindly. Finally, a whistle filled the darkness. It was what I’d been waiting for. 

Let’s see how bad they want this.

I spun in the opposite direction and spotted the familiar red and blue lights. With a quick jump, I vaulted over the damaged guardrail and found myself tumbling down a steep ravine.

Landing on my stomach, blood dripped from my nose, and the taste of rust flooded my mouth. I didn’t take the time to wipe it away. I had to keep moving. I’d started this game and I was going to finish it. 

Quickly, I leapt to my feet and began to run again. When a sharp burning and throbbing pulsated in my right ankle, I knew my speed would be impaired. I must have twisted it in the fall. With everything I had, I tried to ignore the pain.

Adrenaline pumped through my bloodstream, making my heart race and giving me the strength I needed. I was no longer on the pavement and my terrain was harder to navigate. Trees, broken branches, and the sickening smell of the stagnant river surrounded me. I pushed onward.

It could have been worse—at least there wasn’t any ice.

Still, it was fucking freezing out here. Snow fell around me. Chilled to the bone, I tugged my hat farther down over my ears.

I didn’t stop, though—I had to keep going.

When my eyes were streaming from the cold and my leg muscles began to seize up, I knew my body needed a break. I’d find cover and play the wait-and-see game. 

The dilapidated abandoned warehouse a few yards away seemed like my best choice. The hinges were rusted and appeared broken, but when I yanked on the door, it wouldn’t open. 

With a sigh, I stomped my salt-stained shoes in the slush I was standing in and looked around.

No sign of them, yet.

They’d be here soon enough.

My lungs burned as I bent over with my hands on my thighs in an attempt to catch my breath.

Poised to move in any direction, I thought about my decision to bait them.

Smart?

Stupid?

I couldn’t believe the game of cat and mouse I had entered into—with the Boston Police Department nonetheless.

But I’d had enough. They’d been following me around for almost a week. Their more-than-obvious tail was bordering on harassment. Pushed to the limit, today I’d decided it was time to find out what it was all about. I was going to force their move. I left my vehicle and took off. They were tracking me, but what they were waiting for to approach me, I had no idea. At this point I had two choices—approach them or keep going. Since I didn’t want to make it easy, I kept running.

Time seemed to be at a standstill as I looked around again. I knew they were close. Yet, as I searched my surroundings, there were no signs of life; everything around me was dark except for the golden glow from the cables of the Zakim Bridge.

The bridge.

I couldn’t believe I’d ended up on the West End. That was more than a slight hike from the tip of the South End, where I’d started all this. 

What time was it anyway?

Before I could look at my watch—the one my grandfather had given me, the one worth more than most of the houses in the surrounding area, the pretentious Patek Philippe with an authentic enamel dial and custom-made rubber watchband, the one almost a match for his own—a yellow beam of light shined down on me.

I guess the BPD finally decided to make their move.

A heavily Boston-accented voice carried through the wind. “Put your hands in the air where we can see them.”

“Fuck me. Really? You’re going to arrest me? For what?” My gaze scoured the area until they came into sight. 

There were three of them and one of me. I didn’t plan to keep running. I didn’t need to, but even if I wanted to, there was nowhere to go. The riverbank was on one side and they were on the other. The trio moved closer and drew their weapons. I responded with equanimity and raised my palms. Still, not a single one of them lowered a gun. Step by step, they moved toward me. When they were about five feet away, I decided to help them out and face them, but before I could, the tallest figure lunged for me.

He pinned me to the wall. “I just wanted to talk. I wasn’t going to arrest you until you assaulted me. But thanks for giving me a reason.”

“I was putting my hands behind my back, asshole,” I grunted.

“Right,” he snickered.

Nostrils flaring, the fatter one grabbed me by my collar and yanked me to him. “Stop resisting.” 

What the fuck?

A quick punch to the gut and a kick to my leg had me belly down in a matter of seconds. 

Most men would have been scared shitless, but not me. I grew up living in two very different worlds, the only similarity being power and greed. To look at me, you wouldn’t believe I was capable of doing the things I had done. Born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I was the grandson of one of the wealthiest men in New York City. 

It wasn’t my trust fund background that anyone had to worry about, though. I was also the grandson of the former head of Boston’s Blue Hill Gang—a piece of me I had tried to renounce. That I wanted to escape. But my family ties kept me bound. The Irish Mob might have changed since my father’s father ran things, but there were some things that never changed.

I’d been raised in both worlds and these cops knew it. They were counting on the Blue Hill Gang part of me to greet them. 

Well fuck them very much—but that’s not what they were going to get.
There has yet to be a book of Kim Karr's that I did not devour. Blow is one of those books that sucks you in and is over far too soon. This book spearheads a darker side of Ms. Karr's writing. A feat which she took full control of and every ounce of emotion she poured in came out ten-fold through her characters. Once again, a unique reading experience is delievered. Never once will you read a book by the author and think "cookie cutter", no, it's always a 180% fresh story with twists you'll never see coming. 

Blow is full of gritty, angsty emotions. Elle and Logan come from very different worlds, and yet the only world that seems right to them is the one where they're together. I won't say it's insta-love, because neither one is ready to love when this book starts. Deep scars from wretched, heartbreaking pasts are ever-present for these two. Coupled with a wicked web of danger presently, it's a wonder Logan and Elle just didn't run far, far away. It's an impossible situation. Elle's in town to help care for her baby niece while her sister is missing, and Logan is in town to help his father. Both have/had lives elsewhere. Now forced, to an extent by the same issue, to come to Boston. They should have never crossed paths. Yet, now that they have Logan is forced to let Elle know just what kind of trouble she has gotten herself into. Not only by coming to help her brother-in-law, but by even being near Logan, let alone falling for him. It's a tumultuous reality they're both in. The push and pull of their passion just adds another layer of deliciousness, probably the best one, to be honest. 

So goes the story, and then in true Kim Karr fashion she whips out the evilest ending one could think up and slap the reader while they're down. No need to fret, I'm sure she'll say she's sorry in the best way possible in the follow up. At least that's what I have to believe lest I go unleash my broken heart on her. It's still a little tender from the lashing this book gave... Some books, even though they leave you reeling, are still terrific books. Blow is the EPITOME of that books. It's mind boggling what kind of masochist I am when it comes to reading. But if there was ever a book to prove how much I love the pain, it'd be this one. I will say there is a small part of this book that I did not handle very well. I hate saying that, but it's truly something that takes me to an uncomfortable place and hurts my heart a little too much - it's the flashbacks Elle has. If I could change one thing about this book it would be that. Though they do serve their purpose, and should absolutely be there, I think they could be cut a few paragraphs before each ends. But, hey, an ocean of erotic, emotional, suspenseful goodness, and one loan rotten island still makes for great sailing. If you're looking for your next "wow" read, please look no further and go dive into this book. I promise you, it will suck you in and you'll be grappling for more, just as I was!

Happy Reading!
*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
CRUSH (book 2) will release on November 16th, 2015 
Meet Kim:

I live in Florida with my husband and four kids. I've always had a love for reading books and writing. Being an English major in college, I wanted to teach at the college level but that was not to be. I went on to receive an MBA and became a project manager until quitting to raise my family. I currently work part-time with my husband and full-time embracing one of my biggest passions—writing.







Connect with Kim:

Monday, September 7, 2015

RELEASE DAY ~Unbroken by Lisa Renee Jones~

Title: Unbroken
Author: Lisa Renee Jones
Series: The Secret Life of Amy Bensen #4
Release Date: September 7, 2015
From New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones comes the fourth and final part in the sexy, suspenseful The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series—finally revealing the long-awaited wedding between Amy and Liam. But with the explosive secret they’re hiding, will their enemies ever let them live happily ever after?

For six long years I lived on the run, in fear and devastated by loss. That began to change the day I met Liam Stone, who is so much more than his money and power, and even the protection he has offered me. He is passion. He is friendship. He is love and happiness, and the man who made my enemies his own. And now with his help, the secret that drove me into hiding is buried, our enemies contained. Liam and I can finally start our life and put this behind us. The nightmare is over. Unless…it’s not. 


Links to Buy:


“Hands back over your head,” he orders, his hands falling from my body, promising he won’t touch me again until I comply.

I do as he wishes, crossing my wrists above my head, staring down at him, and he is naked and beautiful, the kind of man who can make a woman beg. This woman. Because I hurt in all the places he’s still not touching me. “Please, Liam,” I whisper.

Satisfaction flickers in his gaze, as if my plea is what he’d been waiting for. He tangles his fingers into my panties, holding my stare as he oh so slowly drags them downward. They fall to my ankles and he presses his mouth to my belly, one palm on my upper thigh, his thumb flicking ever so gently on my clit. I try to suck in air but fail as over and over that thumb teases me, the delicate friction driving me insane, enough to make me burn, but not enough to let me breathe.

“Liam,” I gasp, and again, it seems to be another plea he seeks as it has barely left my lips when his fingers slip into the wet, swollen flesh of my core and enter me. And his mouth, his gifted, amazing mouth, replaces his thumb and closes down on my now throbbing nub. The wait is over as he suckles and licks, and when my knees tremble, his hand is on my hip, holding me steady, the way he has from the moment we first met.

Somehow I keep my arms over my head, when what I want is to reach down and touch Liam. Oh how I burn to touch him. A burn that radiates through my sex and suddenly I am on the edge of the sweet, blissful place that is release. I suck in a breath that lodges in my chest, my body tensing, and then I’m there, so very there, tumbling into a place that can only be called perfection. I lose everything. Worry. Time. Pain. And when I come back to the world, Liam is holding my hips, keeping me from falling.

He kisses my belly again but this time he lingers there, his cheek settling where his lips were seconds before, as if he’s holding on to me, making his claim that he won’t lose me real. There is vulnerability in the act, the kind that he shows no one else.

No one but me. He shows me. He trusts me the way I do him. And I have never felt so loved and complete as I do in this moment.

He’s different now, the edge that was there moments before shifting to something equally dark, but free of sharp corners. My heart squeezes with the impact of what he feels, and the way he dissolves the loneliness of my past. I reach for him, my fingers slipping into the thick, dark strands of his hair. He lifts his head to fix me in a deep, dark stare, cupping both my hands in his to bring them to his lips. I sink to my knees in front of him, my hand flattening over his heart.

“I love you,” I whisper.

He cups my face. “I love you, too, but baby, I won’t apologize for protecting you.”

There are a million things I could say in that moment but he is already kissing me, deeply, passionately, the moment of tenderness transforming into something hungrier, hotter. Suddenly, we are clinging to each other, trying to get closer, hands all over each other as we tumble to the ground, lying side by side. Still kissing, still trying to get more of each other, he shifts our bodies, his thick erection pressing between my legs into the slick heat he’s created.

His mouth leaves mine but our foreheads are pressed together, and we do what we’ve said we will do. We breathe together, and it’s intense and wonderful and I swear I can feel him everywhere, in every part of me.

He pushes inside me, driving deep, and his hand slides up my back, molding my breasts to his chest. “This is where you belong. With me. That’s what matters.”

“Yes,” I whisper. “With you.”
The Secret Life of Amy Bensen Series
Escaping Reality (book #1): Amazon | B&N | iBooks
Infinite Possibilities (book #2): Amazon | B&N | iBooks
Forsaken (book #3): Amazon | B&N | iBooks



Meet Lisa Renee Jones:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is the author of the highly acclaimed INSIDE OUT series, which is now in development for a television show to be produced by Suzanne Todd of Team Todd (Alice in Wonderland). Suzanne Todd on the INSIDE OUT series: Lisa has created a beautiful, complicated, and sensual world that is filled with intrigue and suspense. Sara’s character is strong, flawed, complex, and sexy - a modern girl we all can identify with. I’m thrilled to develop a television show that will tell Sara’s whole story - her life, her work, her friends, and her sexuality.

In addition to the success of Lisa's INSIDE OUT series, she has published many successful titles. The TALL, DARK AND DEADLY series and THE SECRET LIFE OF AMY BENSEN series, both spent several months on a combination of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling lists. Lisa is presently working on a dark, edgy new series, Dirty Money, for St. Martin's Press.

Prior to publishing Lisa owned multi-state staffing agency that was recognized many times by The Austin Business Journal and also praised by the Dallas Women's Magazine. In 1998 Lisa was listed as the #7 growing women owned business in Entrepreneur Magazine.

Lisa loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her at www.lisareneejones.com and she is active on Twitter and Facebook daily.

Connect with Lisa:


ARC REVIEW ~Ryker by Sawyer Bennett~

Title: Ryker
Author: Sawyer Bennett
Series: Cold Fury Hockey #4
Release Date: September 7, 2015

My Rating: 5 stars
The rugged men of the Carolina Cold Fury hockey team are winning hearts once again in another scorching novel from New York Times bestselling author Sawyer Bennett.

The stakes have never been higher for Carolina Cold Fury goalie Ryker Evans. With his contract running out, he’s got a year left to prove he’s still at the top of his game. And since his wife left him, Ryker has been balancing life as a pro-hockey star and a single parent to two daughters. Management is waiting for him to screw up. The fans are ready to pounce. Everybody’s taking dirty shots—except for the fiery redhead whose faith in Ryker gives him a fresh start.

As the league’s only female general manager, Gray Brannon has learned not to mix business with pleasure. And yet even this tough, talented career woman can’t help breaking her own rules as she gives Ryker everything she’s got. She hopes their hot streak will last forever, but with Ryker’s conniving ex plotting to reclaim her man, the pressure’s on Gray to step up and save a tender new love before it’s too late.

I fell in love with the Cold Fury Hockey series with book 1, Alex. I admit I was remiss in reading books 2 and 3, but book 4, Ryker grabbed my attention and I remembered why I fell so in love the first time. I'm not a big hockey fan, truth be told I don't think I've ever watched a game. But Sawyer Bennett has an innate ability to make this series solely about hockey, yet not having to do with hockey at the same time. She can grab a non hockey lover's attention and hold it with her quippy characters, hot passion, and deep emotions. All of which are severely prevalent in Ryker's story.

This book and these characters are not the norm. No cookie cutters here. It's real emotion, real problems, and intense scenes with the perfect flares of comedy. Ryker and Gray certainly have a chemistry most strive for, and they have an easy relationship (sans the hiding from everyone because she's team management). They're just so easy together, it's simple to forget the outside world during their scenes. Yet, just when you think this is going to be a steady book with a few bumps, the author throws in a pothole that forces a collision of several different issues. It's handled remarkably well and not a sentence of it caused me to give an eye-roll at the cheese factor.

I really enjoyed this book. For me, it was a quick read, and fresh-voiced. I'll definitely be finding by way back to books 2 and 3 for more Cold Fury love and I highly suggest you all add this series to your TBR list. Sawyer Bennett does romance exceptionally well, and I think most readers would find her highly enjoyable!

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

Links to Buy:

COLD FURY HOCKEY SERIES
Alex: Amazon | B&N | iBooks
Garrett: Amazon | B&N | iBooks
Zack: Amazon | B&N | iBooks

Connect with Sawyer:


Thursday, September 3, 2015

COVER REVEAL ~Blow by Kim Karr~

~ ONE NEW COUPLE

~ TWO NEW BOOKS


~ A STORY OF TAINTED LOVE

2 fatal sides.
1 epic love.
7 days to survive.

They met in the face of danger. They weren’t looking for love. They both knew better. But they couldn’t stay away, and they fell hard.

He is heart-stopping handsome, fearless—and haunted by deadly ties.

She is breathtakingly beautiful, determined—and in harm’s way.

They should have parted. They didn't. They never should have fucked. They did. And now time is running out. One hundred sixty eight hours. That’s all that remains. While Logan McPherson fights to save them, Elle Sterling is forced to make a choice that could change everything.

When torn between right and wrong, tainted love doesn’t have a chance…

or does it?
BLOW (book 1) will release on September 21st, 2015 
CRUSH (book 2) will release on November 16th, 2015 
And don't forget if you want to receive additional content, stay up to date with what’s next, and participate in exclusive giveaways, make sure you're on my mailing list! ➜ http://bit.ly/1RzcHz3

Meet Kim:

I live in Florida with my husband and four kids. I've always had a love for reading books and writing. Being an English major in college, I wanted to teach at the college level but that was not to be. I went on to receive an MBA and became a project manager until quitting to raise my family. I currently work part-time with my husband and full-time embracing one of my biggest passions—writing.







Connect with Kim: