BLOG TOUR REVIEW ~Dare to Seduce by Carly Phillips~

Title: Dare to Seduve

Author: Carly Phillips
Series: Dare to Love #8
Release Date: November 17, 2015

My Rating: 5 Stars

This book can be read as a standalone!
Max Savage has had a thing for Lucy Dare for as long as he can remember but he values his long standing friendship with her brothers too much to cross the line.

When Lucy shows up at an engagement party on the arm of another man, Max doesn't like the changes he sees in her.

It's now or never. Max can think of one way to convince Lucy she's with the wrong guy. He'll dare to seduce her...

Max Savage glanced across the lush green lawn of Gabriel and Isabelle Dare’s Bedford, New York, home, his gaze focused on the sexy brunette he couldn’t get out of his head. Lucy Dare, dressed in a conservative pants suit, her luxurious dark hair pulled into a bun, stood beside her date, a Hollywood director who was a douchebag of the first order.

The last time Max had seen Lucy, she’d been her wild and free self. Then she’d hooked up with that guy and she’d changed. And not in a good way. He wanted fun, sexy Lucy back.

“How badly do you want to punch that guy’s teeth in?”

“So badly,” Max muttered, then glanced over, realizing the question came from Lucy’s brother, Decklan Dare.

Max shook his head and changed his answer, because it would do no good to let his best friend know he was obsessing over the guy’s little sister. He’d kept it to himself for years, partially as an excuse to deny what he really wanted, but regardless, this wasn’t the right time to bring up the issue.

“Who do you mean?” Max asked.

Decklan rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. I know you hate that Spielberg wannabe as much as we do.”

“Can’t say he’d be my first choice for your sister.”

“That’s rich considering it’s your fault she’s with him to begin with.” Decklan eyed Max with distinct annoyance in his gaze.

“How the hell do you figure that?” Max asked.

Decklan’s older brother, Gabe, joined them, and from the look on his face, he’d clearly caught the tail end of the conversation.

“Face it, Savage. We know you have a thing for Lucy,” Gabe said.

Just how the brothers had gleaned that bit of knowledge was beyond Max. Nobody had a better poker face than him.

Decklan merely nodded in agreement.

“You didn’t take your chance last time she was in town, and now she’s with that asshole,” Gabe added, angling his head toward where his sister stood with Lucas Kellan.

“Well, fuck.” Max wasn’t about to deny what had clearly been more obvious than he’d intended.

Both Dare brothers narrowed their gazes on him, waiting for an explanation.

“What? I didn’t think you’d approve, and I wasn’t about to mess up years’ worth of friendship if you didn’t.” He was sticking to the tried-and-true excuse he’d told himself for years. In reality, Max had his reasons for staying away from

Lucy for so long and for fucking up more than just his life in the process. But they were his, and he wouldn’t be sharing them.

“The only way you’d compromise friendships would be if you used or hurt my sister. If your intentions are honorable, I have no issue,” said Gabe, the man who’d raised Lucy after their parents died in a car accident.

Max glanced at Decklan. They both knew Max’s recent past. He’d married young, lost his wife, Cindy, in a car accident, and had a subsequent lack of serious relationships since. What Decklan didn’t know was the guilt Max harbored over the emotions he hadn’t been able to give his wife, due to the feelings he’d always had for Lucy. Hell, he’d married Cindy because he didn’t have those intense feelings, and everyone had paid a price.

Max shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat and glanced at Decklan, who, like Gabe, was extremely protective of his sister. “You too? You’re okay with this?” he asked.

His best friend shrugged. “Well, you’re an asshole but you’re our asshole.” He slapped Max on the back, his expression sobering. “Look, Cindy died four years ago, and you haven’t been with anyone seriously since.”

Neither one of them mentioned Max’s penchant for sex clubs on the weekends. It had been a way to fill the emptiness inside him, nothing more.

“But Gabe is right,” Decklan said. “I see how you look at Lucy. You should do something about it if your intentions are solid.”

They finally were. For years Max had denied his need for Lucy and the emotional bond he knew they would share if they took things to the next level. Fear had driven him. Now Max was finally ready to go after the woman he’d always wanted.

“Just don’t blow it or we will have an issue,” Decklan cheerfully added.



Max didn’t need to be told twice. He made his way across the lawn and veered between guests, coming up to where Lucy and her date stood by the bar.

You know those books that you wait for, and wait for, and you're so psyched to get it, you cuddle up with your favorite blanket and dive in and it just blows your ever loving mind? This is that book. Dare to Seduce dives into Lucy and Max's story. I have been JONESING for their story. The unrequited, yet miraculously requited, just avoided due to tortuous pasts love story was exactly what I wanted. I am a sucker for the brother's best friend book, but Dare to Seduce delivered a whole new dimension to it. A whole new layer of angst, and warm fuzzies that I reveled in. Let it be known that while I may have raved about the previous Dare to Love books this ones holds my heart within its grasps so tightly I don't think I'll get over it anytime soon. 

Ms. Phllips yet again let's her strength for welled-up passion, and knife-twisting emotions soar in this book. Max and Lucy were hotter than hot, and each had such a story and baggage to overcome it took a lot of leaping and bounding as far as their character growth went. These two were in for a tough fight and fought as hard and deep as possible. The end result was nothing short of fascinating to watch. I literally felt like I was watching two close friends fall into a love that had been there for years and embrace it wholeheartedly.

What I hate and love about this series is the realness of it. I sincerely have a place in my heart for these characters and would love to see more from each of them. And while I do speak of the series as a whole each book is standalone. Though, why you wouldn't read all of them is far above my understanding. Dare to Seduce is a solid and above 5 star book for me. It gave me every satisfaction I was hoping for from the glimpses of Lucy and Max. If you're looking for an intense, yet fun-loving and steaming, burning hot read, you just found your next willing participant!

Happy Reading!

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

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DARE TO LOVE SERIES

Title: Dare to Love
Author: Carly Phillips
Series: Dare to Love #1

When it comes to family, Ian Dare gives his all but in relationships he offers the bare minimum. Until one glimpse of sensual Riley Taylor arouses his dominant and protective instincts. He will do anything to possess her … and does. But any future with Riley must include him dealing his half-brother who is a constant reminder of the pain he’d rather forget. 

Riley Taylor believes herself immune to domineering men – until charismatic Ian Dare turns a simple kiss into an all out assault on her senses and she discovers she likes his brand of control in the bedroom. As their affair heats up, they soon realize they complete each other in ways neither imagined. But Riley’s past is closer than she cares to remember, and her struggles with Ian’s dominance might just cost her everything. (love story, contemporary romance, alpha heroes, beach reads, sports heroes, bad boys, billionaire)

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Title: Dare to Desire

Author: Carly Phillips

Series: Dare to Love #2

Quarterback Alex Dare, had it all -- an all-star football career and his choice of willing women -- until a severe injury forces him into early retirement. Social worker Madison Evans grew up in foster homes and knows what it means to have-not. She isn't impressed by Alex Dare’s wealth or charm. Not since she fell hard for him once before, only to discover she was just one of his too-easy conquests. 

This time around Madison refuses to succumb to Alex so easily. But Alex wants Madison. And if there is one thing Alex does well, it’s to get what he wants. Can he convince Madison to take a risk and dare to love? 

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Title: Dare to Surrender

Author: Carly Phillips

Series: Dare to Love #3

Part of Invitation to Eden

After ending a relationship to a cheating, domineering man, Isabelle Masters takes off in her leased Mercedes, only to be arrested for grand theft and hauled to a local police station. To her surprise, she is rescued by the most unlikely person possible, Gabriel Dare, a man she’s been attracted to for far too long. Gabe offers Isabelle freedom along with an invitation to Eden, an exclusive island resort where everything and anything is possible.

Although Gabe yearns to possess Isabelle, he knows all too well he must fight his primitive need to bind her to him, and instead help bring out the independent woman she yearns to become – or risk losing her for good.

A woman who needs to run her own life. A man who needs to exert control. Can she surrender to his erotic demands without losing her sense of self once more?

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Title: Dare to Submit

Author: Carly Phillips

Series: Dare to Love #4

Decklan Dare knows about the unexpected loss of loved ones and for this reason, he values control in all areas of his life. Amanda Collins enjoys the freedom she finds in casual encounters without the emotional connection a relationship brings. They meet and their physical attraction is mutual but both experience feelings that could run deeper – if they drop their guard and let each other in. Decklan is first to trust, but when he discovers the secret Amanda’s been hiding, will he forgive? Or will he rebuild every wall before she has a chance to explain?

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Title: Dare to Touch

Author: Carly Phillips

Series: Dare to Love #5

Olivia Dare, executive director of the Miami Thunder, and team travel director, Dylan Rhodes share more than just a passion for football–their chemistry is explosive and their feelings for each other are intense. But Olivia is wary of any man getting too close. Given her background – a near-bigamist dad and an ex-boyfriend who merely enforced her lack of priority in his life – Olivia fears being hurt again but she can’t resist embarking upon a passionate affair with Dylan, even as she holds part of herself back.

Dylan isn’t a man who does anything half way. Once he decides to pursue Olivia, he goes all in. When the Pro-Bowl takes them to the desert oasis of Arizona, Dylan is determined to make sure their time together isn’t all business. What happens while at the luxury resort is life altering but when Olivia admits her deepest pain, will Dylan be able to prove he’s a man with staying power? Or will Olivia be disappointed again, this time by the most important man in her life?

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Title: Dare to Hold
Author: Carly Phillips
Series: Dare to Love #6
Release Date: April 14, 2015

Some women always get it right. Kindergarten teacher, Meg Thompson, on the other hand, consistently makes the wrong decisions — and she is currently single, pregnant and alone. Meg is determined to make changes in her life, to be a better mother than her own had been. No revolving door of men. No man, period. Just a single-minded focus on her baby. Her resolution would be easier to keep if not for hot cop, Scott Dare. He insinuates himself in her life, making Meg want to believe in happily ever after, even if history has taught her to know better.

When Scott Dare hears Meg’s friends are determined she have a night of hot sex, before her life changes forever, he decides that man must be him. Their one night is mind blowing and life altering. And Scott, a man already burned by his ex-wife, finds himself all in anyway. While protecting Meg from her violent ex and becoming part of her increasingly complicated life, he’s falling hard and he can’t seem to find distance. Not when their bodies respond to each other with such heated intensity and he’s drawn to her unique combination of strength and vulnerability.

But Meg’s future is one Scott has accepted he’ll never have, even if his growing feelings say otherwise …

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Title: Dare to Rock

Author: Carly Phillips
Series: Dare to Love #7
Release Date: August 4, 2015

Avery Dare lives a quiet life in Miami as an online fashion/makeup video blogger. She has good friends, a close, large family and if her love life is lacking, she likes it that way. But when she receives an invitation to one of her ex's concerts along with an invitation to meet him back stage, she decides to take the risk... and comes face to face with the reality of his rock star lifestyle - the press, the crowds, and the half-naked groupies.

At eighteen, Grey Kingston left everything he knew and loved behind to seek fame and fortune as a rock star, and he found it as the lead guitarist and singer for the band, Tangled Royal. Fans adore him, women throw themselves at him, and he can afford everything he couldn't growing up. Yet at the height of his career, he's ready to walk away and return home to a simpler life... and the woman he left behind, if he can convince her to give him another chance.

Except moving on isn't as easy as Grey would like. When Avery is threatened by a stalker, it becomes evident Grey's fans not only don't want him to retire, they don't want Avery in his life either. And Avery isn't sure she wants the pressures that are part of Grey's life... but she doesn't want to lose him again, either. Can their recently renewed love survive the fallout?

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Meet Carly:

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carly Phillips N.Y. Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carly Phillips has written over 40 sexy contemporary romance novels that today's readers identify with and enjoy. After a successful 15 year career with various New York publishing houses, Carly is making the leap to Indie author, with the goal of giving her readers more books at a faster pace at a better price. Her Serendipity books will still finish up in January/February 2014 via Berkley as planned. Carly lives in Purchase, NY with her family, two nearly adult daughters and two crazy dogs who star on her Facebook Fan Page and website. She's a writer, a knitter of sorts, a wife, and a mom. In addition, she's a Twitter and Internet junkie and is always around to interact with her readers.

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Release Day Blitz ~Corrupt by Penelope Douglas~

Title: Corrupt

Author: Penelope Douglas
Release Date: November 17, 2015
Organized by: As the Pages Turn

I was told that dreams were our heart’s desires. My nightmares, however, became my obsession.

His name is Michael Crist.

My boyfriend’s older brother is like that scary movie that you peek through your hand to watch. He is handsome, strong, and completely terrifying. The star of his college’s basketball team and now gone pro, he’s more concerned with the dirt on his shoe than me.

But I noticed him.

I saw him. I heard him. The things that he did, and the deeds that he hid…For years, I bit my nails, unable to look away.

Now, I’ve graduated high school and moved on to college, but I haven’t stopped watching Michael. He’s bad, and the dirt I’ve seen isn’t content to stay in my head anymore.

Because he’s finally noticed me.

Her name is Erika Fane, but everyone calls her Rika.

My brother’s girlfriend grew up hanging around my house and is always at our dinner table. She looks down when I enter a room and stills when I am close. I can always feel the fear rolling off of her, and while I haven’t had her body, I know that I have her mind. That’s all I really want anyway.

Until my brother leaves for the military, and I find Rika alone at college.

In my city.

Unprotected.

The opportunity is too good to be true as well as the timing. Because you see, three years ago she put a few of my high school friends in prison, and now they’re out.

We’ve waited. We’ve been patient. And now every last one of her nightmares will come true.

***Corrupt is stand-alone dark erotica

I turned and stalked off, taking a left down the hallway toward the elevator. The doors opened as soon as I pushed the button, and I stepped inside, trying to calm my racing heart.

They still intimidated me.

And excited me. And challenged me. And knotted me up.

I’d kind of wanted to go to a party but not with them.

The doors started closing, but just then a hand shot into the elevator, and I jumped, seeing the doors re-open. I sucked in a breath, staring wide-eyed as Michael reached in, grabbed my shirt by the collar with one hand, and pulled me out.

“Michael!” I shouted.

I stumbled into him, and before I knew what was happening, he grabbed my wrists and locked them behind my back, walking into me and forcing me backward, back down the hall toward the kitchen.

“Let me go!” I demanded, my lips brushing the tip of his chin.

“I don’t know, guys,” he teased over my head, “she still seems pretty fucking easy to push around. What do you think?”

Laughter greeted me as he forced me back into the living area.

Every muscle in my body was on fire, and the tips of my toes kept getting caught under his sneakers.

I twisted my body, trying to break his hold. “What the hell are you doing?”

I pushed against his chest and jerked my body to the left, tearing out of his hold with every muscle I could muster.

I stumbled, losing my balance, and fell backward, crashing to the floor. Pain shot through my ass, running down my legs as the fall knocked the wind out me.

Shit!

Shooting my hands behind me, I pushed myself up and bent my knees, looking up at him as he advanced.

He stalked over and then stopped, towering over me. I immediately moved my hands and feet, crawling backward, away from him.

But then I felt something at my back, and I halted. I twisted my head, seeing a dark pant leg, and I didn’t know if it was Damon, Will, or Kai, but it didn’t matter. I was closed in.

Oh, no. I slowly raised my eyes, seeing Michael’s lips tilt in a devious smile. I stopped breathing, seeing him lower his body to the floor, planting his knees between my bent legs, and his hands at my sides.

My neck arched back as his face hovered over mine, but I tried to keep myself up as much as possible, no matter how close his body got.

“I thought you were one of us,” his whispered, his breath caressing my lips. “I thought you could play.”

I stilled, staring into his eyes.

You’re one of us now. Will had said that to me on that night so long ago.

Michael’s amber eyes searched mine and then dropped to my mouth, his breathing growing heavy as he stared at me like he was about to take a bite.

I wanted to cry. What the hell was going on?

Three years ago was nearly the happiest night of my life, and it quickly became the worst. And ever since then, Michael not only acted as if I didn’t exist, but also, at times, as if he wished I didn’t.

Now the guys were free, and they were all back together again. What did I have to do with any of this? What did he want with me?

“I don’t know this game,” I told him, barely audible.

He stared into my eyes, thinning his own as if studying me. “All you need to know,” he finally answered, “is that you can’t tap out.”

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Meet Penelope:

Penelope Douglas is a writer and teacher in Las Vegas. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, she is the oldest of five children. Penelope attended the University of Northern Iowa, earning a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, because her father told her to "just get the degree!" She then earned a Masters of Science in Education at Loyola University in New Orleans, because she hated Public Administration. One night, she got tipsy and told the bouncer at the bar where she worked that his son was hot, and three years later they were married. To the son, not the bouncer. They have spawn, but just one. A daughter named Aydan. Penelope loves sweets, the show Sons of Anarchy, and she shops at Target almost daily.

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RELEASE DAY BLITZ ~Crush by Kim Karr~

~ A STORY OF TAINTED LOVE ~

The story continues. Will Love Conquer All?

Title: Crush

Author: Kim Karr

Series: Tainted Love #2

Release Date: November 16, 2015

The danger isn’t over.

It’s only just begun.

Circumstances brought them together and their undeniable connection won’t let them part. But when the past and the present collide, emotions run high—things are said, lines are crossed, and rules are broken. Both focused on crushing the enemy, the retribution is almost too much to bear. Still, there’s no undoing what has already been done, and every action has a consequence.

He loves her and she loves him, but love isn’t a shield.

Sometimes your only choice is the one you’d rather not make. Pushed to the limit, the tainted love of Logan and Elle is in jeopardy. With outside forces driving a wedge between them, they have to dig deep within their souls to release the ghosts of their pasts, and fight even harder for what neither knew they needed—each other.

Can love really conquer all?

‪#‎taintedlove‬ ‪#‎weshouldhaveknownbetter‬

START THE SERIES NOW! 

BLOW (book 1) 

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

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?

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 Kim's 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.

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RELEASE BLITZ ~Hard Beat by K. Bromberg~

Title: Hard Beat

Author: K. Bromberg

Series: Driven #7

Release Date: November 3, 2015

From the New York Times bestselling author of Sweet Ache comes a blistering new novel filled with danger, secrecy, and a desire that can’t be sated…

Foreign war correspondent Tanner Thomas is addicted to living on the edge. Needing the adrenaline rush of his job to help him cope with a personal loss, he throws himself back into the game, concentrating all his energy on getting the next big story. But when he meets his new photojournalist, Beaux Croslyn, he can’t help but feel like he’s losing his focus—and maybe risking more…

With secrets she won’t address, Beaux is far from your ordinary woman. Determined to keep her distance, she’s willing to pull Tanner in closer and hide behind the sparks flying between them. But as Beaux’s past begins to put their relationship—and their lives—at risk, Tanner’s determination to find the truth puts them both in jeopardy.

He's ready to chase her to the ends of the earth to find out if what they had was real, or if the danger surrounding them was just an exquisite heat fated to burn out….

She pulls me from my lewd but damn fine thoughts when she tries to jerk her arm from my hold. My spine stiffens some because hell if I’m up for resistance right now. I’m emotionally drained, exhausted, and as much as I don’t want to feel that grenade of desire sitting low in my belly, I still want to pull its pin so I can lose myself for a bit in the soft curves and sweet taste of a gorgeous woman no matter how fucking insolent she is.

I clench my jaw. A fleeting show of resistance before I give in to my need and the sexual tension. She gasps when I release her arm only to bring it up to her neck at the same time I crash my lips to hers.

And fuck yes I’m a dick for not letting her push me away, for letting my own need for this woman who will most likely move on by the week’s end control my actions, for taking without asking, but goddamn her small display of independence turns me on something fierce.

I brand my mouth to hers, press my tongue between her lips as she parts them. Her hands push me away, but the movement of her tongue tells me she wants more. She’s a clear contradiction in all meanings of the word. Soft and supple body, but I can feel the toned muscle beneath. Between kisses she tries to pull back, but a soft moan in the back of her throat when my free hand cups her ass tells me how much she wants this.

Her hands fist in my shirt at the same time my hand takes hold of the loose bun at the nape of her neck to tilt her head back and look into her eyes. But her mouth stays right where I want it because I’m nowhere near done with her yet.

“I don’t like you,” she claims through gritted teeth. Our hands run possessively over each other, but derision laced with defiance glimmers in her eyes.

“I beg to differ.” I laugh at the ludicrousness of her statement, considering the predicament we’re in. She tries to step back, but when she doesn’t release my shirt, I know she still wants more.

And fuck, I’m definitely all in. I need this outlet more than I ever realized until I was in the thick of it. I’ve kept to myself at home, fought with my sister when she attempted to fix me up with one of her friends, punished myself, and now with the heat of a woman’s body pressed up against me and the taste of her kiss seared in my goddamn brain, there is no way in hell I’m walking away now.

“I don’t like you,” she reiterates.

“Too bad,” I tell her as I go in for the next kiss. One that’s full of angry desperation and irresistible need with teeth nipping and tongues meeting and that ache deep in my balls taking hold of me. My hips pin her against the cold cinder-block wall behind her.

Her fingers dig into my shoulders as she tears her mouth from mine, our chests heaving. And then just when her protests stop and her tongue starts to dance with mine again, I pull back.

“You’re arrogant and—”

“You don’t have to like me to fuck me,” I say, cutting her off. “You just have to want me.”

She protests, and I cut her words off with my mouth on hers at the same time my hands grab her wrists. Even as I gain the advantage, I feel like she’s pulling out the ground from beneath my feet. “Fuck you!” She manages to get the words out between fervent kisses.

I chuckle against her lips before pulling back and looking straight into her desire-laden eyes. “That’s the plan.”

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Meet K. Bromberg:

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author K. Bromberg is that reserved woman sitting in the corner who has you all fooled about the wild child inside of her—the one she lets out every time her fingertips touch the computer keyboard.

K. lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. When she needs a break from the daily chaos of her life, you can most likely find her on the treadmill or with Kindle in hand, devouring the pages of a good, saucy book.

On a whim, K. Bromberg decided to try her hand at this writing thing. Her debut novels, Driven, Fueled, and Crashed of The Driven Trilogy were well received and went on to become multi-platform bestsellers as well as landing on the New York Times and USA Today lists. Her other works include a short story, UnRaveled, and a companion piece to The Driven Trilogy titled Raced. She is currently working on three stand alone Driven novels, Slow Burn, Sweet Ache, and Hard Beat. She also plans to release a novel addressing the 10 year gap at the ending of Crashed in late fall 2015Connect with K. Bromberg: