REVIEW TOUR + GIVEAWAY ~The Valentine's Arrangement by Kelsie Leverich~

Title: The Valentine's Arrangement
Author: Kelsie Leverich
Series: Hard Feelings #1
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Tattoo artist Ronnie Clark is counting the days until Valentine’s Day is over. Ronnie doesn’t do romance. She doesn’t do flowers or dates, and she sure as hell doesn’t do love—not anymore. Love leads to heartbreak, and she’s vowed never to let herself get hurt again.

Sergeant First Class Kale Emerson is home on his mid-tour leave from Iraq, but he only has one thing on his mind—returning to his soldiers to finish leading their mission. He’s dedicated to his men and to his country, and he’s not interested in getting wrapped up in a distracting relationship…but casual sex, that’s a different story. From the moment he sees Ronnie, he wants her. And he agrees to her terms—no romance, no fluff—just passion.

But as their sexual chemistry ignites, the lines of their arrangement get blurry, and Ronnie starts to push Kale away. And when Kale realizes he’s found his match in this razor-tongued, gorgeous woman who is hell bent against love, winning her heart could be the toughest battle he has ever fought.

Kelsie Leverich has demanded and been rewarded a spot on my auto-buy list. The Valentine's Arrangement is a quirky, hilarious, and hotter than hot book. Ronnie and Kale have enough attitude to battle a group of 16 year olds and enough chemistry to blow up the tattoo shop. This book was entertaining from the get-go and was a fantastic escape from all those angsty books I have been reading. The Valentine's Arrangement is one of those books that you have to read. I feel like I've been missing out all this time. Right now, Ronnie and Kale are still bouncing around in my head, shouting to be read again. There was not one part of this book that I didn't enjoy. It's a full-package book that will make you swoon and laugh out loud.

Ronnie is a tattoo artist, who is just living day-to-day until she can move out of this town. She wants away from her messy past relationship and to move on. But while she's biding her time, a new client walks into her life and tilts it upside down. Kale Emerson's life is the army. While on a forced leave, he meets the tough, sexy, and quippy Ronnie. Of course, their attraction is too strong to fight but, they both agree it won't be anything but physical. As the days countdown to Kale deployment he and Ronnie find themselves enjoying each others company and engaging in some mind-melting sex. But Ronnie can't help but remember their rules and an unexpected visitor may derail Kale's future plans. 

The best thing about Ms. Leverich is that she always puts an unexpected twist at the end of her books. It caught me off guard in Pretending She's His, and it caught me off guard with this book too. But I love it. And her characters... *sigh* I've got character envy, and you should too. We should all hope to create characters as terrific as Ronnie and Kale. Ronnie is so perfectly unperfect. And Kale... well he's just perfect. Ronnie, however, may be one of my favorite characters. She is snarky, blunt, and sassy to boot. She's got that sweet element though, that only Kale can bring out. I loved that they made each other see beyond the blinders they wore. Kale convinced Ronnie to get past her hurt and Ronnie showed Kale there was life outside the Army. All in all, this is a fun, sexy book that will leave you wanting more. And it will definitely be shelved under "Re-read"!

Happy Reading!

*Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*

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Meet Kelsie:

Kelsie Leverich grew up in the small town of St. Joseph Illinois before getting married and following her husband from one Army post to another. After eight years, they finally settled down in Avon, Indiana with two adorable knuckleheads that are better known as her kids. Kelsie's life revolves around her family (to include two dogs and a cat) and most of the time, actually all of the time, it’s a crazy mess—but that’s the way she loves it! When Kelsie’s not writing, you can usually find her snuggling on the couch with her kids and a good book or out on the lake with family and friends. Kelsie is not a morning person, has a soft spot for animals, loves musicals, hates seafood, and thinks laundry is the source of all evil.

Kelsie is currently working on the third book in her military series with editor Danielle Perez with NAL/Penguin.


Represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

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REVIEW ~Game for Marriage by Karen Erickson~

Title: Game for Marriage
Author: Karen Erickson
Series: Game for It #1
Release Date: January 11, 2013

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

He’s going in deep to make her his…

Struggling artist Sheridan Harper never imagined she’d spend a sizzling night with Jared Quinn, the smoking-hot star quarterback of her local professional football team, the San Jose Hawks. And she’s even more shocked when Jared’s publicist offers her a proposition: a fake marriage to keep Jared out of the gossip mags. Being that close to Jared would be too tempting, so to protect her heart, she insists on secretly including a clause forbidding sex between them.

Jared just wants to keep his starting QB job and keep it in San Jose. His reputation as a ladies’ man has landed him in the headlines one too many times, but there’s something about his kind, passionate new wife that tempts him beyond reason. Any sort of intimacy between them is completely forbidden, but as their bodies fall in deep, will their hearts follow suit?

*Raises hand* I'm game for marrying Jared Quinn!! Pretty please? No? He's already married to the stubborn and amazing Sheridan with whom he is head over heels in love with? Fine *sulks in corner* That's probably for the best though, Sheridan and Jared are a super adorable couple. Game for Marriage included all of my favorite things: hot football players, even hotter sex, a marriage of convenience and a couple with every obstacle thrown at them. From the first scene with Sheridan and Jared I could not wait to travel their story with them.

"To go from giggling and giving each other grief to heated, passionate lovemaking in mere seconds was a heady rush. One she liked to indulge in again and again..."

~Sheridan

Jared is literally every woman's dream guy. He's hot, built, a football player, and despite his current man-whorish image he seems to be one of those "good ones" we always hear about. He's sweet and caring, and trips over himself to satisfy his new wife in every way possible. Sheridan is just as giving, and she is such a prideful woman but, when it really counts she can set it aside for the greater good. These two meet and within 8 hours are hitting the sheets. But when Sheridan flees after their rendezvous she never expects to see Jared again. So imagine her surprise when Jared's publicist offers Sheridan everything she needs to keep her late grandmother's storefront open and live a better life in exchange for a year long marriage to Jared. Sheridan realizes she can sacrifice a year of her life if it means saving her studio and helping Jared get his image back on track. The two agree to a no sex clause in their contract... and well you can guess that it doesn't last too long. While they try to head to the no-sex clause they must find a way to make their marriage believable to the world around them. Interestingly enough a married life isn't as hard as they imagined.

"He wanted to drag her back into that big bed and make love to her again. So they could shut themselves completely off form the real world and focus on what really mattered. Each other."

~Jared

Sheridan and Jared go from lust to a marriage of convenience to admiration for one another and then finally allow themselves to love. They didn't fight it very hard, they were actually very forthcoming in their feelings. The problems arise with outside forces being a pain in their asses. I think there is only one way to properly convey my feelings about this book so here are my reactions to it, in order: Wow that's hot, Oh really? This can't end well, Well they are kinda cute together, Awww, Yes!, Oh shit, Hell, This is going to be BAD!, *sad face*, Best friend to the rescue, You both are stubborn little shits, *fist pump*, *happy dance*, The End :). Truthfully, I couldn't foresee where Game for Marriage was going to take me. What I was given was a hilarious, sweet, steamy book that I couldn't put down. 

"I promise to love and honor and cherish you forever, Sheridan Quinn. Having you in my life has made it brighter, better. Complete. I'd be lost without you, baby. You gotta know that."

~Jared

Karen Erickson truly has a gift. I have read many of her other books, including her Monica Murphy books, and have loved every single one of them. She creates a stories, characters and worlds that draw you in and keep you hooked until she's ready to tug on your emotions. Sometimes she's a little rough with the tugging, but this book was more on the heartwarming side rather than the angsty side :) So, yes I definitely recommend this book and I can't wait for Willow and Nick's story (hehe these two have some major pent up passion to burn through). I also wanted to say a huge thank you to Karen for gifting me a review copy of Game for Marriage I truly enjoyed every bit of it!

Happy Reading!

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REVIEW ~The Rocker That Holds Me by Terri Anne Browning~

*Spoilers: To fully explain my review and feelings toward this book there will be spoilers.*

Title: The Rocker That Holds Me
Author: Terri Anne Browning
Series: The Rocker #1
Release Date: January 24, 2013

My Rating: 2 Stars

Touring with four rockers is the thing of dreams…

At least that is what people tell me. To me those four rockers are my family. They have watched over me from the time I was five years old. Protecting me from my mother and her drunken, drug addict rages. When they made it big they still watched over me. And when my monster of a mother died they took over as my guardians.

In the six years since that happened I have watched over the four men that
mean everything to me. I take care of them just as they once took care of me. I handle all the dirty work behind the scenes of a rockers life. It isn’t always pretty. At times it came be damn near disgusting, especially when I have to get rid of their one night stands. Ugh!

Taking care of them doesn’t bother me though. I mean it’s not like I’m in love with one of them. That would be crazy. Falling for a rocker is NOT smart.

Okay, so I’m not smart. I love my guys, and one of them kind of holds my heart in his big old rocker hand. But I’m dealing. I’ve been able to keep it my little secret for years now.
I’m not, however, dealing with this bug that I seem to have caught. It scares the hell out of me. I hate doctors, but I’m suddenly more worried about finding out what is wrong with me than what the doctor might do to me.

When I get my test results back my life will never be the same again…

I really hate giving low star reviews but, The Rocker That Holds Me was just too scattered for me. I was intrigued by the premise. I enjoy a good "I've loved him since I was young" story line but, this one was not for me. The Rocker That Holds Me just felt completely disjointed and underdeveloped.

We start with a flashback to when Emmie, Nik, Jesse, Drake and Shane were younger and the boys were saving her from her abusive mother. Back to present day Emmie is now the mother hen to the men while they are on tour. It is typical rocker life, except these guys did not seem to have any redeeming qualities. They drink to get drunk, and take advantage of Emmie (at least from my point of view). The men are very vocal about their protectiveness of Emmie but, I never really saw it reflected in their actions. Through the last few tour dates Emmie has been ill, and it takes her collapsing to finally seek a doctor. Even then, she is rushed to the hospital by a friend and the men, who claim to love her, cannot be reached for hours. The reason for Emmie's sickness is pregnancy. Which is no real shock, the signs were all there. Of course, up until now there has been no sex between any of the characters. Nik, the man that supposedly holds Emmie's heart, loses his cool and demands to know who the father is. Surprise! He is. But he doesn't remember. In a moment of drunkenness he took Emmie's virginity and thought it was only a dream.

In the resulting scenes Nik and Emmie never sit down and talk about how they will handle the pregnancy, their relationship, or anything really. Jesse, who in my mind is more affectionate towards Emmie than Nik is, took her to a doctor's appointment only for them to come home see half naked women partying with the rest of the guys. So Emmie finally takes actions, which I wholeheartedly applauded, and decides to leave. I think if the story had ended there I might have had a better feeling about it. However, Nik rushes after her and spouts some lame excuse about trying to provoke her to tell him her true feelings. How is she supposed to have those kind of "true" feelings, when they have only screwed, because I feel that's the only word for what they did,  twice and have not conversed about the situation at hand?

I have always said the length of a book should not be a factor if it is used wisely and the story is developed. The writing was good, but the story itself lacked direction, closure and substance. I wanted more interaction between Nik and Emmie. More grown-up conversation about the reality of their situation. I think my point is that it wasn't the author, it was the characters that I had a beef with. Yes, I know the author writes the characters, but we all know that characters speak to authors, and they live inside their heads. And I feel that these characters just needed some more time mull over their decisions. The epilogue is the reason for the second star in my rating. It showed a bit more depth and connection between Emmie, Nik and their child. When compared with other rocker books out there, I feel the The Rocker That Holds Me just fell short. I wouldn't dissuade anyone from trying to read this book, but it just was not my style. However, these are only my personal opinions, and they are not meant to anger anyone. Also to disclose, there are plenty of people out there that truly enjoyed this book, so I was definitely in the minority on this one.

Happy Reading!

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