Forged, G.A Regla PROMO

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Title:   Forged (Fragments of Me #1)

Author:  G.A. Regla

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publication Date:  14 February 2014

Cover Designed by:  Whispering Words Graphics

Synopsis:

What happens when the lines of love and friendship are blurred?

After discovering a heart shattering secret Elora Gerent collects the fragments of her life, and returns home in hopes of finding a way to put them all together. What she didn't expect to find was her sexy playboy neighbor Thane. 

Thane has shards of his own that he's left with to reassemble. Never did he imagine that the wholesome girl next door would make him even want to try. On the Eve of this fourth deployment a hope is crushed and they part on bad terms. 

When a dreaded phone call reaches Elora she realizes that the frame is always bigger than its picture. 

Will Thane and Elora remain fragments of who they are, or will they forge the shattered shards?

Serenity Falls, Tiffany Aleman & Ashley Poch

Amazon UK

Amazon US

ARC received by author for an honest review

Where do I begin?

Just by reading the synopsis of this book I was already hooked, a broken girl and a hot cowboy what more could you want in a book? And I must say I was not let down by this book at all, it contained drama, sex, love, heartbreak and humour as well as the odd country song.

Kenleigh was a stronger character than I thought she was going to be when I read the synopsis and the opening of the book, she managed to grow from this broken depressed girl into a woman who helped children get through depression and disabilities, and she did this by helping out on the Serenity Falls Farm in the summer. Horses helped her get through her depression so she wanted to give back, plus she loved the family that ran the farm. However this summer, she was not expecting Wes to show up and throw her through a loop.

Together they were perfect and fun, doing things that us girls only dream a  guy would do with us, of course they had their ups and downs what kind of book would it be if they didn’t. But it wasn’t repetitive; they all had their place their purpose that made this book a good read.

Wes is a professional bull rider (I know classic cowboy) and his looks and job make the girls swoon (even the ones reading the book) he never really settled down, but when he meets Kenleigh that’s what he wants, her and him to live happily ever after. Through the book you see him win Kenleigh over and treat her like a princess and fight for her when things go bad.

I was a little disappointed in the ending, in my opinion it should have been different, a lot of YA books end the way this one ended. I just thought because the book had been so great, that the ending was a little disappointed, that being send it did tie the book up in a nice bow.

I really enjoyed this book, reading about the journey to love between Kenleigh and Wes. I give this book a 4* rating. 

Working It, Kendall Ryan

Amazon UK

Amazon US

ARC received by author for an honest review

‘Working It’ is about Ben a drop dead gorgeous male model and Emmy a southern bell from Tennessee, so obviously they fall in love.

I enjoyed this book, although I didn’t love it. In my opinion it wasn’t one of Kendall’s best pieces of writing and was quite short.  I loved the idea of Ben being a model, not a really rich business man like most erotic novels, and his description was mouth-watering. I think that if the book was longer his feelings towards Emmy and their relationship wouldn’t have been as rushed.

I liked Emmy’s character although I didn’t think she was very strong willed, she gave in very easily at every difficult situation, sleeping with him for the first time, the threesome and the baby, she debated it for a second and went crawling back to Ben every time, doing anything to please him. And as much as I enjoyed reading the scene with Bray I felt it was very out of place in the book, came out of nowhere and innocent southern Emmy went along with it as if it was a normal thing.

My favourite character at the beginning of the book was Fiona, I saw a lot of comparisons to Miranda Priestly in the Devil Wears Prada, however as the book went on she became a lot more desperate and to me her character changed a drastic amount, she went from this strong woman who runs a business, to this desperate woman who tries to manipulate Ben into loving her.

To me the book had a lot of potential, the characters were all amazingly written and the story line could have been great, but because the story was so short I didn’t think the relationships had enough time to grow and we were sort of being thrown from scene to scene. That being said I will be reading the next 2 books in the series to see what happens with Ben and Emmy and if Fiona continues to get in between them.

The book could have been better, but like I said I will be reading the next book in the Love By Design series, so I give this book a 2.5 star rating

Unravel Me, Kendall Ryan

Amazon USA

Amazon UK 

Aut viam inveniam aut faciam tibi. “I will either find a way or make one"

This is the second book of Kendall Ryan’s I have read (The Impact of You was the first) and I loved it. I love how Kendall can write funny, sexual and meaningful life changing scenes all in one.

This book was different as it has Ashlyn Drake falling in love with amnesia patient ‘Logan’ who is on trial for murder. The whole storyline had me intrigued from the beginning, I kept wondering; how is Kendall going to make our hearts lie with a so called murderer? But let me tell you, by the second time you see him in the book you’re hooked.

My favourite scene was of course the famous tattoo scene Aut viam inveniam aut faciam tibi. “I will either find a way or make one" I love how books make things more believable, because in real life no two people would get this tattoo, in the exact same place in the same font. But when Ashlyn sees Logan’s it makes you believe that they are meant to be.

The book is extremely well written and just flows and I must admit I fell in love with Ashlyn; she is a smart woman getting her PhD so is obviously hard working and not afraid to go for what she wants. She also shows you how powerful and strong women can be without men, as well as seeing how broken and lost a woman can be with a broken heart.

This book has a bit of everything, loss, hurt, love, heartbreak, friendship and HOT sex scenes it really is an uplifting story when you finish the book, and everything is tied up in a perfect bow. The way Kendall writes their sex scenes is intense yet they are put in the book in the right place to in a way help the reader see the bond between them, see the connection of their relationship and the love that comes from them.

I really enjoyed this book and will carry on reading books by Kendall Ryan, I give this book a 4.5* rating.

Waiting on Wednesday 4

For my fourth 'WoW' hosted by Breaking the Spine I have chosen:

Shards of Us, K.R. Caverly

Coming October 8, 2013

We meet every Wednesday night in hotel room #364. We stay there until morning; kissing, laughing, healing one another. We're both broken people, him with his alcoholic family, me with my murdered one. I don't know who he is; I don't ask for his name. I don't question him. I only love how he makes me feel, how he makes me forget just how alone I am in this world, and for now, that's all I need.

Striving For Normal, B.L. Mooney

Drew has been seeing her shrink Joseph for almost 5 years after a relationship gone wrong, causing her physical and emotional damage, she hasn’t had a date in 5 years let alone sex, but Joseph, Mark and Terri think it’s time for get back out there and meet someone who will love her.

Dennis works with Mark, so when he and Terri invited him on a double date with their friend he couldn’t refuse. He knew she was damaged the moment he saw her, but that doesn’t stop him falling madly in love with her.

Carl has just lost his wife to cancer, so when Drew starts working at the daycare his daughter goes too, he needs to have her. He doesn’t take no for an answer even when Drew tells him she’s seeing Dennis, and she can’t control herself around him.

This book touches on a lot of tough subjects, abuse, manipulation, abortion, suicide, cancer and addiction, yet the storyline flowed the entire time and I didn’t notice how many issues it pressed on until the end when I really thought about the book. It wasn't a light read, there was a lot of drama, but it was ironically an addictive read, I wanted to see Drew survive, I wanted to see Dennis love Drew and I wanted to see Carl get his life back on track for the sake of his daughter.

Each character B.L. Mooney created was so different to each other and it was really interesting to read the way they all reacted around each other. Half way through the book I got scared that Drew was going to choose the wrong guy because he was able to manipulate her so easily because of her past, he was able to crawl inside her and somehow make her think she was feeling all of these things for her when really she wasn’t.

Drew’s character turned out to be a strong character, she may have gone through week stages but with the help for Joseph, Terri, Mark and Dennis she was able to grow and overcome the fears she had, love herself, love the guy who loves her and stick up for herself when it could have all come crashing down.

The journey for Dennis and Drew wasn’t an easy one, there were infidelities, arguments, break ups and family problems, but reading this book was able to show me that love can get through anything if it is strong enough and you are willing to try hard enough, love is always enough. 

I liked reading this book and was really impressed with the story line. I give this book a 3* rating.  

Freebie 2

Your Favorite Girl, Steph Sweeney

USA Link: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Favorite-Girl-Series-ebook/dp/B00CS6Z0R2

UK Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Favorite-Girl-Series-ebook/dp/B00CS6Z0R2

When Melissa Reed, a twenty-two-year-old housewife, discovers her millionaire husband Ted has been cheating on her with a recent high school graduate from down the street, she begins to investigate his private life. In his little black book, she finds a single address and phone number: that of Your Favorite Girl, Inc. 

Assuming it's an escort service, Melissa dials the number, only to find she's stumbled upon a secret corporation dedicated to engineering the most erotic sexual creatures in the history of man.

And Melissa can't resist making a purchase. 

Your Favorite Girl is best described as an erotic romance thriller, the first in a three-part series.

The Impact of You, Kendall Ryan

Trying to keep her past in the past, Avery has spent the most recent years of her life trying to stay in the background, being unnoticed by everyone, that is until she stumbles across Jase at a frat party.

Jase likes women and sex, commitment is the last thing on his mind. But his life is thrown upside when his mum tries to commit suicide, showing him not to take things for granted, so when he sees Avery at a frat party standing out like a sore thumb, he can’t stop himself, he needs to know her.  

After reading reviews for this book and hearing all the hype about it, I was so excited to finally read it and I must say I was far from disappointed. At the beginning of the book I thought we were going to have to wait until Jase found out what Avery was hiding before we did, but Kendall sneakily dropped hints throughout the book about what was going on with Avery or as Jase calls her “Whistle” and it helped with the suspense of when Jase was going to find out.

I liked Jase’s character that we never got to see his ‘bad boy’ days so to us the reader he was always the Jase we got to meet, the loving and caring person. The boy that made your heart race and stop at the same time with his kindness and forwardness.

I felt as if Kendall wrote Avery’s character really well, you really could see her insecurities and her doubting herself, there were no moments where suddenly Avery would be strong, like in some books, this was a gradual thing, which was helped along by Jase being her ‘life coach.’

I felt the story line for this book was different to some, with a sex scandal and an attempted suicide, but also the same in some ways as there was a love triangle and arguments, but all that makes for get reading. The first few sex scenes had me wanting Avery to let Jase carry on because I was so into the books, but I am glad that she didn’t because I felt as if when they finally got to have sex, it completed the book without there having to be a ‘happily ever after ending’ that and Avery getting on the fact she took nude pictures of herself and they went around her school. 

Her and Jase are together and it hasn’t been easy them getting there and it probably won’t be easy after that, but that’s life and I feel that Kendall wrote the ending as if it would happen in everyday life, no false hopes just reality. 

Jase stole my heart and I give this book a 4* rating.
I am excited to read more books by Kendall Ryan

Waiting on Wednesday 3

My third 'WoW' hosted by Breaking the Spine

The Book I am waiting for to be released is:

Working It, Kendall Ryan

Coming November 11, 2013

A story of heart-stopping, toe curling passion by the beloved bestselling author of Hard to Love, Resisting Her and The Impact of You

Waiting on Wednesday 2

My second 'WoW' hosted by Breaking the Spine

The Book I am waiting for to be released is:

Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1), Sophie Jordan

Coming November 5, 2013

Before she goes after the life she's always wanted, she's about to find the on she needs.

Pulse, Gail McHugh

Pulse – The sequel to collide, where do I even begin?

I was so happy when this book picked up exactly where Collide finished, as I hate it when sequels continue ‘6months’ or ‘a year later’ and Gail McHugh did not disappoint me.

I found myself going through the same emotions as Emily did I was that enthralled in the book. The beginning of this book you followed Emily through a really emotional time, from the beating she took from Dillon to her flying to find Gavin and fighting for him. It was an emotional rollercoaster.

This book from the beginning to the end shows that love in its strongest form can beat anything that is thrown at it. With Gavin and Emily finally getting ‘officially’ together and jumping into their relationship at full pace, everything is good at them and they can finally just be. That is until more drama happens at Christmas which brings unwanted Dillon back into their lives. But without giving too much away they over come every hurdle that is thrown their way and end up being stronger than ever.

Gavin’s ‘swoon worthy’ attitude is back in full force and he is still as arrogant as ever if not even more so as he finally got the girl, he has be laughing, he has me 'awwing', also the way he describes what he’s going to do to Emily is extremely intense. He is one of my favourite book boyfriends, hands down.

In this book Emily’s character grew on me a bit more, she was almost stronger in a way, I feel that she felt stronger in herself and Gail did a really good job of showing the audience that, yes she had her whiny, vulnerable moments, but she wouldn’t be Emily if she didn’t, but being without Dillon and with Gavin she owned herself and reading that progress amazed me.

The sex scenes in this book did not disappoint, they were as hot and steamy as ever. They weren’t too graphic but the way the emotions and the movements were described was powerful and mesmerizing.

The thing I love about reading is the way an author is capable to drag you into a different world and for that moment while you are reading you are part of the book and even when I put the book down I find myself in this place between reality and the book, it’s honestly amazing what authors can do and Gail McHugh did not disappoint in anyway, she dragged me into Gavin and Emily’s world from beginning to end of both books.

This book and series as a whole deserve a 5* rating!

Collide, Gail McHugh

Emily is moving away from town she’s always called home after the death of her mother and to New York City to be with the one she loves Dillon Parker. Trying to get her life on track after the move until Gavin storms into her life and changes all the rules.

After his fiancé leaves him, Gavin doesn’t think he’ll ever find love again, let again find love at first site that is until Emily walks into his office delivering his food and turns his world upside down, he’s never chased after a woman before, but he was not going to let Emily slip through his fingers.

I read both Collide and Pulse in one day because I could not put them down, the constant battle between Emily and Gavin made my heart ache. But also I have never been so infuriated with a character like I was with Emily, the moment she saw Gavin she should have broken up with Dillon, should have left his sorry arse behind and been with Gavin, but instead she sticks with Dillon lets him control her, lets him slowly manipulate her.

At the beginning Dillon and Emily’s relationship seems normal, but as the reader you pick up on things that Emily didn’t, Dillon’s slimy behaviour, his controlling nature and his cheating, all oblivious to Emily’s eyes. You also see how Gavin looks at her, how he wants to consume her, own her soul, her heart, her every desire, and you can’t help but want to scream at her to notice.

It makes you crave the attention and love that Gavin would give Emily, you want to have that for yourself and you get angry because she could easily have it but she’s pushing it away, pushing Gavin away so much and she does this by agreeing to marry Dillon.

After some drama between Dillon and Emily they separate for a couple of days and in this time she comes to terms with the fact that she has fallen head over heels in love with Gavin without even meaning too. Refusing to keep fighting her feelings she goes to his apartment and they devour each other and have the most intense sex, they are both finally able to give into their desires and the way Gail McHugh describes it is amazing.

However their story doesn’t end there, not even close, they don’t get their happily ever after there. Emily walks in on something as she tries to surprise Gavin at his apartment and leaves before he is given a chance to explain, he doesn’t even know what’s happened. And Emily goes running back to Dillon and agrees to put the wedding back on.

“Why are you marrying someone you don’t love?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m marrying someone who loves me!”

The rehearsal dinner was where this story really broke my heart; I could envision the look on Gavin’s face at the end before he was driven away by Olivia, the heart break he had to endure, the scare that Emily had left him. The ending of this book was the reason I had to continue to read Pulse straight after, I needed their happily ever after.

A review for 'Pulse' will be coming soon, I happily give this book a 4* rating.

Torn, K.A. Robinson

Chloe has never really wanted to be in a relationship after her abusive childhood. She has the two people that matter too her Logan and Amber, until Drake comes along and turns her life upside down.

Drake has the carefree life, he’s in a band and gets all the groupies, he is not the relationship type that is until Chloe walked into his class and everything changed.

I thought I would slowly work my way through the Tennessee Valley Author Event reading list starting from the top, being the Torn series. Halfway through reading Torn I realised I had already read it, yet reading it again I was still hooked even though I knew how it ended.

I enjoyed the love triangle drama that was included in this book, and I enjoyed watching the battle Chloe had to whether or not the love she felt for Logan was friendship or the real deal. However I found Chloe’s character quite irritating and agreed with everything Amber her best friend was saying to her. It got to the point where I was no longer routing for her, however I was routing for Drake to be with her as his character stole my heart.

Drake’s bad boy image, sarcastic and cocky personality made me love him, and I enjoyed seeing the other side of him when he was alone with Chloe or performing onstage, his lyrics always showed the reader how he was feeling. The sex scenes between Chloe and Drake in this book captivated me, the description and emotions were intense and you really felt the passion between the two characters. I enjoyed being able to compare the Chloe and Logan sex scenes with Chloe and Drakes as that’s where you can really tell who Chloe was really into. As Chloe described the sex with Logan as ‘nice’ I am sure the sex with Drake would be ‘mind blowing’.

I felt like Chloe’s back story played a big part in this book, because it explained why she is the way she is, and why she acts the way she does. Although you don’t really hear much about her back story just snippets here and there until she tells Drake the entire story and her mum calling doesn't really affect the story all that much, however does lead onto the next book.

I enjoyed this book and give it a 2.5 star rating.

Marked, Elisabeth Naughton

Casey has been living her life for 27 years without anything interesting happening and then within moments of meeting Theron it all changes.

Theron prides himself on his loyalty and doing the jobs his king has set for him, being an Argonaut was his life but when he meets Acacia he thinks that he’s found his soul mate.

I love reading books based around Greek Mythology like the Starcrossed series by Josephine Angelini and the Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout so if I don’t like the first couple of a book I won’t carry it on knowing I won’t be hooked from the beginning. I must say Elisabeth Naughton’s Marked didn’t disappoint. Like most Greek Mythology books for Young Adults it is based not around the gods itself but a breed of people in-between Gods and humans.

Although Marked may be a short book it did not lack details and descriptions about the characters and places along the journey. I enjoyed the relationship between Theron and Casey and the constant battle Theron had with himself for him to do the thing he thought was right, Acacia was his soul mate so he couldn’t let her meet her sister so she could die. And the constant battle Theron faced with Casey being human and him having feelings for a human was unheard of, but when he found out she was a misos (half-breed)is even more unheard of as most of the Argoleans even know they exist. But he believed she was his soul mate and his love for her kept growing even with him fighting it.  

I enjoyed the fact that each individual character had their own background story which leads on to the follow up books that go on following another set of characters around as Theron and Casey have managed to get their happily ever after at the end of that story. Although they will appear in the other books they won’t be the prominent characters.

The sexual chemistry between Theron and Casey is hard to ignore, you get a feel for it the first time they meet, the sensations that run through Casey’s body, the dream Theron has after his attack. The way each touch between them is described will make everyone woman want to be in Casey’s position under Theron’s muscly body.

I liked how the book was rounded up and how towards the end Hades made an appearance to ‘fix’ everything but also cause trouble that would provide him entertainment as well as give Elisabeth a way to carry on writing this series.

I really enjoyed reading this book and give it a 4* rating. I look forward to reading Zander's story in the next book of the Eternal Guardians series, I give this book a 3* rating.