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THE FIXED TRILOGY by Laurelin Paige

December 4, 2013 by Aestas · 6 Comments

This sexy series is one of my top recommendations for “What to read after Crossfire.”

If dominant and controlling yet tortured heroes make your heart race, then these books will rock your world! Hudson Pierce now has a place on my favorites shelf along with Christian Grey, Gideon Cross and James Cavendish.

All three books are currently available for purchase!!

❤ ABOUT THE SERIES ❤

BOOK #1 — FIXED ON YOU
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

BOOK #2 — FOUND IN YOU
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

BOOK #3 — FOREVER WITH YOU
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback| Read my Review

COMPANION NOVEL — HUDSON
Pre-order for Kindle
coming July 8, 2014

This is a full-length companion novel to the NY Times Bestselling Fixed Trilogy.“I can easily divide my life into two parts—before her and after.”

Told from his point of view, Hudson fills the holes in his love story with Alayna Withers. His past and relationship with his long-time friend Celia is further revealed and light is shed on his actions during his courtship with Alayna.

The author says: HUDSON is a full-length novel told from Hudson’s point of view. It is NOT simply a retelling of the Fixed trilogy. Part of his story takes place before he ever met Alayna. And then, when he met Alayna, there was a lot that happened for him that we never saw. This is that story.

KINDLE GIVEAWAY — GIVE THE GIFT OF READING

December 2, 2013 by Aestas · 474 Comments

Today, I have a super amazing double giveaway for you sponsored by one of the most talented authors and generous people I know — Tina Reber (author of Love Unscripted and Love Unrehearsed).

The theme of this giveaway is giving the gift of reading. Here are the details….

There are two Rafflecopters here today for two separate giveaways:

GIVEAWAY #1 will have 2 winners — one will get a signed set of Love Unscripted & Love Unrehearsed, the other will get an eBook set. (Signed set is US only, eBooks are International)

GIVEAWAY #2 is for a Kindle Paperwhite — but this giveaway is different!! To enter this, your only task will be to nominate someone who you think should win the Kindle. It can be anyone you know who you feel genuinely deserves it and would love to have 😀

Tina’s idea was that she wanted to give the gift of a Kindle Paperwhite to someone who YOU thought deserved it most. So this holiday season, you get to help give the gift of reading….

Be sure to enter BOTH Rafflecopters!!!!!

❤ GIVEAWAY #1 ❤

Open Internationally.
Void where prohibited by law. Must be over 18 to enter.

2 winners: The first will win a signed set of both Love Unscripted & Love Unrehearsed (US only), & the second will win a Kindle eBook set of Love Unscripted & Love Unrehearsed (International)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

❤ GIVEAWAY #2 ❤

Anyone (internationally) can nominate a winner, but the winner must reside in the US.

Void where prohibited by law. Must be over 18 to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HUGE SIGNED GIVEAWAY from R.K. LILLEY — ALL UP IN THE AIR & TRISTAN AND DANIKA SERIES BOOKS!!

November 26, 2013 by Aestas · 321 Comments

Check this out!!! I have a huuuuuge giveaway for you today from one of my favorite authors, R.K. Lilley, to help celebrate the recent release of her latest book, Rock Bottom!!

I first fell in love with her books with the Up In The Air trilogy, which is a must-read for any fans of dominant billionaires and passionate (and kinky ;)!) romance! These books made my heart race from start to finish and are one of my top recommendations!! And next, I got wrapped up in the Tristan & Danika trilogy, which follows two of the secondary characters that we met in the Up In The Air series, in an emotional, second chance romance journey to be concluded in early 2014.

For this giveaway, the author has very generously offered up a signed set of all 3 Up In The Air books + both available books in the Tristan & Danika trilogy to one lucky giveaway winner!!

Check the bottom of the post for details… 😀

❤ UP IN THE AIR SERIES ❤

This whole trilogy is a delicious blend of heart-clenching emotion, fan-yourself hotness, make-you-blush kink, combined with an engaging plot that keeps you flipping the pages. Plus there’s the added bonus of it being a completed trilogy so – no cliffhangers!

BOOK #1 — IN FLIGHT
Kindle | Paperback | My Review

BOOK #2 — MILE HIGH
Kindle | Paperback |My Review

BOOK #3 — GROUNDED
Kindle | Paperback | My Review

❤ TRISTAN & DANIKA SERIES ❤

This series follows the story of Tristan and Danika — two characters we met in the Up In The Air series. While this series can technically be read on it’s own, it is suggested to read them after UITA. .

BOOK #1 — BAD THINGS
Kindle | Paperback | My Review

BOOK #2 — ROCK BOTTOM
Kindle | My Review

BOOK #3 — LOVELY TRIGGER
coming early 2014

❤ SIGNED GIVEAWAY ❤

Giveaway is Open Internationally.
1 winner will get signed copies of all 5 books.
Void where prohibited by law. Must be over 18 to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review — Forever Jack (Eversea #2) by Natasha Boyd

November 26, 2013 by Aestas · Leave a Comment

Buy Book #1 — EVERSEA (Kindle)
Buy Book #2 — FOREVER, JACK (Kindle) – just released!!

Jack Eversea is back and determined to reclaim the heart of his one true love!!

“I wanted this girl. Like air. All the fucking way.”

I have to say that with the way Eversea ended I was just dying to find out what happened next and I loved that this book picked up right where the first one left off. All I had to do to reconnect was reread the last chapter from book #1 and I was good to go!

In Eversea, we saw A-list movie star Jack Eversea fall in love with a feisty small town girl, Keri Ann but circumstances outside of their control tore them apart. Now, we head back to Butler Cover to see the story of a man willing to go any lengths to win back the love of the only woman who’d ever really stolen his heart.

I totally felt terrible for Keri Ann in the beginning. I could feel her anger, frustration and heart ache. She was just picking up the pieces of her life and had just gotten everything back on track…

“This was a nightmare. I thought I’d be over him. But if [this] was any indication, I was not over him. Not entirely. Damn it. Not at all.”

But despite it all, she still loved him…

“Jack Eversea still flipped my insides over and made me feel like a star struck fan who desperately wanted to know him, but couldn’t.”

And he… well, he’d always loved her.

“I don’t know how to go back,” he whispered… “I don’t know how to go back to where we were, to what we had… to what we were supposed to be.” He paused again. “What we are meant to be.”

I loved their reunion!!! It wasn’t smooth sailing but ohhhh I felt it!! It was that feeling you get when you’re so mad at a person but you just don’t care because the love is greater than the heart ache!

And soon the reasons behind all the events that had taken place began to make sense. My heart just ached for Jack – I mean, poor guy!! What a horrible feeling to be put in a position of being utterly powerless to stop the heart of the person you love most from breaking. In this book, we were shown the real Jack — the man behind the tabloids and paparazzi shots — the man who’d never stopped loving this one girl.

“This is as real as it gets, Keri Ann. This is Technicolor, when everything else is black and white. This… what we have… is extra-sensory overload… where everything else is a silent fucking movie.”

Their biggest hurdle was for Keri Ann to come to terms with being involved with someone whose life was in the spotlight all the time. There were times when I wanted to shake her because of how much she was holding back from him. I wanted her to just take the leap of faith and accept his lifestyle as a part of the package deal that came with being with him and realize that being with him didn’t have to mean losing herself but it wasn’t easy for her to give up the freedom of living an unscrutenized life. Luckily though, Jack was a very convincing man. I mean, how do you say no to this??

“Just… try and remember,” he swallowed and grabbed my hand, pressing it against his chest. “Whatever anyone sees on the outside… this is yours in here. Please, God, don’t throw it away.”

Overall, this was a very quick and easy read for me. It was a full length novel but I read it in less than three hours. Jack and Keri Ann’s story was completely wrapped up in the end (complete with an epilogue!) and we were left in a very good place. If you loved the first one, you’ll love this one too.

Eversea is a fun and romantic story that takes you through all the highs and lows of falling in love with a world-famous movie star. This series really is just total escapism!

4+ stars

Oh, and on a random note, I just want to mention how much I love both the covers from this series. They both have such strong significance for the stories and really do a wonderful job of representing it!

** Note: There will be a third book in the series but it will focus on side characters.

** SERIES READING ORDER **

#1 — EVERSEA
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

#2 — FOREVER JACK
Buy for Kindle

Book Review — Rock Bottom (Tristan & Danika #2) by R.K. Lilley

November 24, 2013 by Aestas · 2 Comments

“I can’t ever lose you, Danika. I’m not sure I’d survive it.”

What an emotional roller coaster!!!

R.K. Lilley has a way of drawing you right into each book she writes and Rock Bottom tugged at every one of my heart strings. Tristan and Danika’s journey was emotional, intense, and heart breaking but left me hopeful and eager for more. I absolutely adore this series and can’t wait for the next book!!

Even before I started this book, I knew it was going to be an intense ride. This book picks up right where Book #1, Bad Things, ended and given what we knew of Tristan and Danika’s relationship in the Up In The Air trilogy (see more info on the timeline below), we knew that they were going to go through some extreme heart ache. I had so many questions — Where did Danika get her limp? What could possibly have happened to come between them??

“I love you,” he rasped out. He said it all the time. He didn’t hold it back, now that he’d admitted it, but it still gave me butterflies, every single time.

“I love you,” I spoke softly into his ear.”

He gripped me harder. “I can’t ever lose you, Danika. I’m not sure I’d survive it.”

Well, all our questions were answered here. It was devastating to see a couple that was as powerfully in love with each other as Tristan and Danika facing so much pain but I loved the way the story was portrayed. It was told to us in alternating POVs and the thing I’ve always loved about both Tristan and Danika is that, while they each had their flaws once you got inside their heads, it was easy to at least understand where they were both coming from… even if at times I just wanted to shake them.

Danika’s POV especially gave a lot of foreshadowing because it was written as though she’d already experienced all the events of this book and was almost looking back warning us of which little elements would come into play in a bigger way later on and impact their future. This really set a powerful tone of anticipation and dread. Honestly, there were times when I had to just put the book down for a few minutes and go watch a fluffy YouTube video or something just to calm down.

Ohhhh Tristan. My heart just went out to him. He was this totally badass guy with a serious saviour complex and an overprotective side that was in a constant state of overdrive. A true Alpha caveman if there ever was one. But he was also just a very flawed and tortured individual who’d suffered an extreme amount of loss and bore too much guilt on his shoulders. (And just as a side note, I really liked how the author included him being a rock star into the story without actually making this a “rock star story”.)

I loved Danika too. She was sassy and feisty but also deeply caring and also damaged as well. But I loved how despite her insecurities, she relentlessly kept trying so hard to make things work.

My heart really broke for them both. They were so clearly in love with each other but life just kept throwing obstacle after obstacle at them. The more I read, the greater my dread grew. I knew something horrible was going to happen and my heart was already breaking. It was like a train wreck… I didn’t want the inevitable to happen but was powerless to stop it.

Now… the #1 question: Does this book end on a cliffhanger?

The answer is both yes and no. At the end of this book, Tristan and Danika have reached their breaking point. They’ve been crushed by the events in their lives and are collectively paying the price of various wrong decisions. They are not “together” as a couple at the end but this actually fits perfectly into the timeline of the Up In The Air trilogy in which they are estranged.

However!!!! Before you run away…. there is a Teaser for Book #3 at the end which will leave you in a much better place. It shows the beginning of their reunion and is full of emotion and hope. I have a strong feeling that Book #3 is going to be all kinds of epic 🙂

You should also know that this book isn’t only full of heartbreak. There’s so much more to it. We see Tristan and Danika fall even deeper in love and share some absolutely beautiful, joyful times together.

“This is forever for me, sweetheart. I want it all with you. You’re the thing that gets me up in the morning and lets me rest easy at night…”

Ooooooh!!! Also, there was one scene from Frankie’s POV in which we got to see James Cavendish five years before he met Bianca and all I have to say is OHHH. MY. GOD. !!!!!! *jaw drop* 😉

As an author, R.K. Lilley has really earned my trust. I love her writing style and I have consistently loved the direction that she’s taken all her stories in and I fully trust that even though Tristan and Danika are at a low point now, that it’ll make their reunion in the next book that much sweeter. After all, sometimes the lowest lows make the highs that much more powerful.

Tristan and Danika are the kind of couple who you just know are meant to be together. I can’t wait to see them get their happily ever after!!

Rating: 4.5 stars

*******************************

TIMELINE CLARIFICATION

The Tristan & Danika trilogy is a spin-off of the Up In The Air trilogy (in which we first met Tristan and Danika as side characters). Both trilogies can be read on their own though and you don’t need to read them both to understand the stories. However, their timelines are interconnected.

The first 2 books of this trilogy, Bad Things and Rock Bottom, take place 5 years before In Flight (the first book in the Up In The Air trilogy). Then, chronologically, come the three books of the Up In The Air trilogy…. and then finally comes Lovely Trigger (the last book in the Tristan & Danika trilogy).

Anyone who has read the Up In The Air trilogy will know that during the course of those books, Tristan and Danika had an estranged and strained relationship but what we didn’t know was why. We saw Tristan and Danika fall in love in Bad Things, then in Rock Bottom we learned the full reason for their estrangement, which then perfectly set up the final book, Lovely Trigger which is a second-chance romance.

So chronologically, this would be the order of the books:

Bad Things (Tristan & Danika #1)
Rock Bottom (Tristan & Danika #2) – starts right after Bad Things
In Flight (Up In The Air #1) – starts 5 years after the end of Rock Bottom
Mile High (Up In The Air #2)
Grounded (Up In The Air #3)
Lovely Trigger (Tristan & Danika #3) – starts 6 years after the end of Rock Bottom

However, the suggested reading order is to read all 3 Up In The Air books, and then the Tristan & Danika trilogy. Trust me, it all works out very clearly 🙂

*******************************

TRISTAN & DANIKA SERIES READING ORDER

#1 — BAD THINGS
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

#2 — ROCK BOTTOM
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

#3 — LOVELY TRIGGER
Buy for Kindle | Read my Review

Book Review – Sempre (forever) by J. M. Darhower

November 24, 2013 by Aestas · 7 Comments

This is a story about sacrifice… death… love… freedom. This is a story about forever.

Buy SEMPRE on Kindle

A sexy novel about two seventeen-year-olds — one a victim of human trafficking; the other the son of the man who enslaved her—who fall in love and question everything they ever believed…

Haven Antonelli and Carmine DeMarco grew up under vastly different circumstances. Haven, a second-generation slave, was isolated in the middle of the desert, her days full of hard work and terrifying abuse. Carmine, born into a wealthy Mafia family, lived a life of privilege and excess.

Now, a twist of fate causes their worlds to collide. Entangled in a web of secrets and lies, they learn that while different on the surface, they have more in common than anyone would think.

In a world full of chaos, where money and power rule, Haven and Carmine yearn to break free, but a string of events that began before either of them were born threatens to destroy them instead. Murder and betrayal are a way of life, and nothing comes without a price—especially not freedom. But how much will they have to sacrifice? Can they escape their pasts? And, most of all, what does it mean to be free?

5 stars!!

** NOTE ** This book was just re-released by a major publisher and so I’m bumping my review from 2012 back to the front page in hopes that it will convince you to read this awesome story. Just bear in mind that this was actually one of the first reviews I ever wrote 😉

“Could someone do bad things, but not be a bad person?“

I think the blurb described this novel best actually. It’s “about two seventeen-year-olds — one a victim of human trafficking; the other the son of the man who enslaved her—who fall in love and question everything they ever believed…”

I absolutely loved this story!! It was completely and totally different than anything I’ve ever read yet in that it did a fantastic job of blurring the lines between good and bad. So many times when reading it I felt conflicted. Everything about some of the situations were so wrong but at the same time, I was liking, maybe even loving, the characters who were doing evil actions. Good guys put in bad situations, forced to make hard decisions that made them do wrong things for the right reasons but in the end the wrong thing to do actually ended up being the right thing… Yeah, if that confuses you, it sure as hell confused me too lol. And I loved it!!!

The story was quite the emotional roller coaster… I cried a little, I laughed a little, it made me care a lot for the characters.

The main character, Haven, is a second generation slave who grew up in a horribly abusive household and is bought into a Mafia family where she ends up falling in love with Carmine, the handsome, hot-headed yet inwardly tormented son of the man who bought her.

“[Carmine] never went looking for it, but trouble seemed to find him every time he turned a corner. And Carmine turned a lot of motherfucking corners.”

The book is long. 530 pages. But I didn’t want to stop reading. At times it is a little slow, in the sense that its not always a burning page turner, but don’t let that put you off. The story takes its time in the right places, it takes its time as Haven and Carmine fall in love, as she starts to recover from her abuse, and as she begins to come out of her shell. Sometimes I like books that don’t just rush through the story – it helps me immerse myself even more in the world and in the character’s lives.

“Colpo di fulmine. The thunderbolt, as Italians call it. When love strikes someone like lightning, so powerful and intense it can’t be denied. It’s beautiful and messy,cracking a chest open and spilling their soul out for the world to see. It turns a person inside out, and there’s no going back from it. Once the thunderbolt hits, your life is irrevocably changed.”

I love how this story explores boundaries and extremes. Master/slave, good/evil, right/wrong, excusable/justifiable actions… I’d say the over all theme though of the story is sacrifice.. Does the ends justify the means? To what ends are you willing to go for the ones you love?

“Right there in the moment, it was just her and him, no one and nothing else. They were all that mattered – two people, desperately in love and wanting to show each other. No master and slave, no class divides.”

And I fell in love with all the Italian endearments that Carmine calls Haven – they just melted my heart!!… I love Haven’s quiet strength, and Carmine’s fierce protectiveness of her. I loved that he was a character who could be an ass on minute but then have no problems apologizing and admitting it and trying to do better. It felt very honest. He made mistakes and tried again.

“There was an ache in his chest, originating in the center of his heart. It was the pain of all-consuming, overflowing love, so powerful it took his breath away.
“Do you feel this? We belong together.” He kissed her. “ Sempre.” “

“They’re titles other people give us. They don’t make us who we are. If you’re just a slave, then I’m nothing more than a Principe. Is that all I am, Haven? A Mafia Prince?
“No, of course not.”
That’s what I thought,” he said. “Just because some people see us that way doesn’t mean it’s what we are. We’ll overcome our labels together. They don’t matter, they don’t make us who we are. We make us who are are. Fuck those motherfuckers.”
She laughed. “When did you get so smart?”
“Baby, I’ve always been smart,” he said playfully. “I’m just lazy as hell and rarely show it.”

I fell in love with the whole DeMarco family. Dominic, Carmine’s brother, was delightful! Light hearted, caring and protective. And Vincent, the father… I’ll admit he made me a little swoon-y at times. It was really great that the author took the time to tell his story and to get inside his head because it gave such insight to the ‘why’ behind so many questionable actions throughout the story. I’d love to read a book about him. The bits of the book about him and his wife made me teary.

This tension in this book comes from all unanswered questions. Who is Haven? How can she, a slave, and Carmine, the son of a high ranking Mafia member be together? Who is the good guy? Who is the bad guy? To what lengths will people go to save the one’s they love?

The first 70% of the book is very character driven. And then all the pieces come together and everything kind of blows up and I almost felt like I was watching a movie, instead of reading a book for the last 30%… lots of action, lots of Mafia warring… quite delicious!

I loved watching Haven’s inner and outer strength develop over the course of the book. I loved how fiercely she and Carmine loved each other, how he wouldn’t let anyone look down on her… I *felt* their connection so strongly and this story is the kind that stays with you long after you finish reading the book.

This book had a happy ending but definitely left the story open for more development.

“How about we just be Haven and Carmine?” she suggested. “We don’t know the ending, but we can always hope for the best.”
“I like that,” he said. “Besides, there’s a reason we don’t know how the story ends.”
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t.”

Rating: 5 stars!!