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Book Review — DELIVER by Pam Godwin

March 27, 2014 by Aestas · 1 Comment

“You will always own me and I will walk through hell to keep it that way.”

What a wild ride! I wanted a dark read and boy did this one ever deliver!! <– hehehe, no pun 😉

His name was Joshua Carter. Now it’s whatever she wants it to be.

She is a Deliverer.

She lures young men and delivers them to be sold. She delivers the strikes that enforce their obedience. She delivers the sexual training that determines their purchase price.

As long as she delivers, the arrangement that protects her family will hold.

Delivering is all she knows.

The one thing she can’t deliver is a captive from slavery.

Until him.

And her stubborn slave thinks he can deliver her…from herself.

If you’re a fan of dark romance, Deliver is definitely a book you should add to your list!! It’s dangerous, suspenseful, erotic, and at it’s heart, it’s a love story. I’m not going to lie though, it definitely made me uncomfortable at times but that’s kind of what you should expect from a darker romance so again, in every way, this book delivered.

The story was told in alternating POVs and the author really did a wonderful job of strongly distinguishing the two voices. Both Liv and Josh had a very distinct personality and ways of thinking that really stood out in their sections of the book and I really appreciated seeing how vastly different they were.

I have to admit, even though I do love a good dark read now and again, what drew me into this one was the uniqueness of the scenario — I mean, the woman was the captor?? Totally had my attention!

“She was stolen innocence, following the rules of monsters. Somewhere along the way, she’d become one.”

But interestingly, even though at first she came across as the villain of the story, we quickly learned that despite her role as his captor, she was every bit as much a victim as he was. The same thing that was being done to him had been done to her and now what was being held over her head ensured that she would continue to perpetuate this cycle and carry out this despicable job in order to save her family.

“Trapped in paranoia, she was terrified to make a mistake, her every action watched, judged, and used to threaten her family.”

I really want to say how much I loved Josh. What an awesome guy. Seriously, I dare you not to like him. He was smart, kind, and his quiet strength tugged at all my heart strings.

“He would concentrate his attention on observing what she was hiding and hearing what wasn’t being said. He would study her face and learn her expressions… What were his limits? How much could he endure before he despised her so much he lost himself in hate? …. To win this, he’d play her game until, eventually, hopefully, they played on the same side.”

It was heart breaking to see him go through the panic of being taken but I loved how he really never lost himself. Throughout it all, despite everything she was doing to him, he saw something in her that made him care for her. He genuinely wanted to save her and, regardless of their situation, this selfless guy was falling for the girl who’d destroyed his life.

Please pay attention to the content warning on the blurb though. This book is not for the faint of heart but underneath everything, it was the story of what happens when good people are put into terrible situations. It shows their true colors in the face of dangerous and sometimes deadly situations. In this case, it was about one man’s care for a woman who had stolen him from his life, violated him, subjugated him to cruelty and despite it all, he was still determined to save her from a life not that different than his new one.

“Don’t you see how wrong I am? I’m a kidnapper. A murderer. A fucking monster.”

“I see all of you… I claim every jagged piece of you.”

Ohhh also there was a really cool twist in the second half of the book that I honestly never saw coming. It wasn’t even an idea I had entertained and I really loved the direction it took the story in.

All in all this story turned out to be much more complex than I originally expected and I really appreciated how well developed the plot was. And I also loved that the ending was not rushed in any way. It took it’s time to let you heal a little from the darker elements of the story and overall, I found this book to be both well balanced and well written. I would highly recommend this for any fans of dark romance.

“I — ” she kissed the spot over his heart, leaned up, and kissed his lips, softly, breathlessly, “– you.”

His heartbeat catapulted, strumming every cell in his body. “You, too, girl.”

Rating: 4.5 stars. Standalone.

Both are standalones.

Book Review — WITH THIS HEART by R.S. Grey

March 27, 2014 by Aestas · 3 Comments

If someone had told me a year ago that I was about to fall in love, go on an epic road trip, ride a Triceratops, sing on a bar, and lose my virginity, I would have assumed they were on drugs.

Well, that is, until I met Beckham…

Buy WITH THIS HEART (Kindle)

This book’s blurb immediately caught my attention starting with that opening line that I posted up above there ^^ and when I took a peek at the first chapter, it had me smiling and laughing from the first few pages and I just had keep reading to find out what happened next.

This was the exchange that made me fall in love with the book (it’s right from the first few pages) and it takes place in a funeral home which is where the book opens up with the Abby trying to pick out an urn. Then this gorgeous guy — a total stranger — walks in and starts talking to her…

“I’m sorry, are you here to pick out an urn or…?” I asked….

“No,” he answered simply.

“No?”

He shrugged his shoulders innocently. “I like coming and checking out the latest models. Never know when you’ll need one.”

I gaped. “Are you serious?”

Cue a sexy smile. Damn. “No. I was getting a slurpee across the street and I saw you walk in, so I followed you on a whim.”

I narrowed my eyes in confused. Of course. He’s too hot to be normal.

“So you’re a stalker?” I asked with a hard stare.

He smirked… “I prefer gravitationally linked by your presence.”

Eventually he gets her to admit that she wants to scatter these ashes on a road trip and this guy who she has never met before in her life pretty much invites himself along on her trip… if she’ll have him, that is. Their texts as she considered this crazy possibility were hilarious!

Abby: Why do you want to come on my road trip? …

Beck: I don’t like cliffhangers… Enter – girl buying an urn. She clearly lies about what it’s for an then takes off into the sunset? I have to know how it ends. Murder suicide? ….

Abby: What percentage of you wants to rape and murder me on the side of the highway?

The whole first half of the book had smiling non stop and often laughing right out loud. Beck was all kinds of swoony and charming, and Abby was a lot of fun and almost a little cynical in way that I really liked. I loved the writing style and all the little fun references to other favorite shows and books like that “Ten points for Beckindor.” line. LOL!!! The whole vibe was just… happy! Heartwarming. Carefree. I loved the little jokes, one liners, and Abby’s quirky but hilarious inner thoughts.

“Did they need to print the word ‘Magnum’ in bold, bright red letters?”

The road trip itself was a really great escape. I felt like went on one with them. These two complete strangers just headed out and enjoyed life… and along the way fell in love. It was sweet, fun, and gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. And I also enjoyed that there was a bit of mystery and intrigue woven into the story. It kept my mind questioning everything and wondering about all the things I didn’t yet have answers to.

When their road trip was cut short, they were forced to face some very hard realities that took their lives in a different direction. The second half of the book had a bit of a different vibe than the first half and I have to admit that I didn’t quite feel the same connection to it as I did in the beginning and I was also a little frustrated with a certain decision that was made towards the end (I guess I just didn’t agree with the character’s decision and wished they’d have handled it differently) but regardless, don’t worry — it’s a happy ending with no cliffhanger so it does get all wrapped up. Overall, I liked this book and it was a quick read (even though it was a full length novel) that I pretty much read in one sitting and I’ll admit… it has kind of tempted me to go on a road trip 😉

Rating: 4 stars.
Standalone New Adult romance.

Buy WITH THIS HEART (Kindle)

Book Review — The Will by Kristen Ashley

March 25, 2014 by Aestas · 15 Comments

“It’s never too late to reach for happiness, and no matter what life has done to you, it’s never too late to find it.”

W-O-W!!! This book was EPIC. Absolutely PERFECT!!! ♥♥♥♥♥

Before anything else, I just want to say that if you’re already a Kristen Ashley fan, you’ll understand when I say that this book is “Vintage KA” style — PURE GOLD!!! And, if you’ve never read a KA book before, this would be an awesome book to start with!! It’s a standalone romance and is since it’s so fantabulous, it would be a wonderful introduction to this author’s amazing books 🙂

A few things right off the bat….

1) This might honestly be my favorite KA book. Or, gah, that’s like choosing a favorite child, but it’s definitely one of them. And without a doubt Jake and Josie are one of my favorite KA couples. This is coming from the perspective of someone who has read nearly every single book KA has written too!

2) This book is looooong!!! It was 9568 “locations” on my Kindle and every single word in them was brilliant!! I am so happy that it wasn’t edited down!

3) EPIC FEELS. This book has them. In bucket loads. From the very first page to the gorgeous, heartfelt, tear-enducing epilogue at the end, this book made me feel.

4) This is worth mentioning again: — VINTAGE KA, guys. ‘Nuff said ♥

Ok… on to the real review…

The pure joy felt when opening up a new KA book is just exhilarating. You know that you’re in for a wild ride filled with fantastic writing, Alpha males, and sexy romance… and this book had it all!!

Kristen Ashley truly is one of the most talented authors I’ve read. In my eyes, no one writes like her, and I really mean no one. If you’ve read her books, you know what I mean. Her descriptions and just the way she writes is so unique to her that it’s almost like she has her own language. If you were to give me ten random paragraphs of writing from various authors, I’d be able to pick out which one she wrote in a heartbeat. You feel it so strongly. Every word just sinks into your heart and soul.

The story takes place in the town of Magdalene where Josie returns for the funeral of her beloved grandmother. Her work takes her traveling all over the world but her grandmother was everything to her and she takes some time off to come back and stay at her house after. When she goes in for the reading of the will, she find that her grandmother put into motion a very unusual request which brings Jake Spear into her life in a way she never expected…. and so begins one of the very best romances I have ever read ♥

Less than two pages into this book and I already had shivers running through me and my heart was racing. There was this moment right at the beginning where their eyes meet across the cemetery and I didn’t even know the characters yet but the feels just hit so strongly and I was hooked!!!

I love all kinds of romance but lets be honest, a lot of them are about couples between 18-35 and I loved that this one was about a couple in their 40s. Jake actually had three kids (PS — I adored them) and both him and Josie had a certain… stability (?) and no-nonsense attitude to their characters that I guess came with simply having made a lot of mistakes in their lives and (more importantly) having learned from them. I loved that this book basically acknowledged that not everyone finds their forever love early on and what it also meant was that having lived without it for so long, both Jake and Josie valued it so highly when they got it, they both knew how precious what they had was and that was just beautiful.

“Never keep anything from me, I don’t give a shit how you think I’m gonna react. I’ll react how I react. I will NEVER harm you doin’ it. But I got enough experience with what doesn’t work between a man and a woman to know that keeping’ shit from each other is a big fuckin’ part of that….. Every inch of you, outside and any way you can get inside, baby, physically or emotionally, is mine.”

My heart felt full to bursting throughout the whole time I was reading this. There’s just no other way to describe it. I was just so with the story that like the randomest little things would make me tear up (even if they weren’t sad) just becauseI was feeling so much.

I love love loved Jake. Talk about ALPHA!!! He was bossy but in a loveable way with a total take-no-bullshit attitude. And yes, a few of you know already that he was a boxer but guys, he was so much more than that too. He had so many sides to him, so many roles, so many talents ( 😉 ) …. he was a great father and a gorgeous lover and yes, he was also one heckuva badass fighter, but at the end of the day, he was just a wonderful guy who cared for his loved ones more than anything else in the world and was willing to go to any lengths to bring them safety and happiness. He stole my heart… and he still has it.

“You good?” he asked into the top of my hair.

I stared at the shadowed wall of his chest.

“Josie?” he called when I didn’t answer.

“I’m afraid,” I admitted softly.

His arms pulled me closer and I felt his lips on my hair when he answered, “Beat that back, honey. No reason to be scared. Not with me.”

Josephine was all kinds of cool!! She was… gah, it’s hard to explain… she was a hoot! Very proper and she spoke in a very cultured manner — and by that I mean that words like illuminating, alas, distressing, prowess, vociferous, fibbed, ungentlemanly, await, hence, irksome, and more were all part of her regular vocabulary. But while she had this very collected side to her, she also had the biggest heart and had such a beautiful personality. She was feisty and smart and fun and I loved the way she cared so deeply not only for Jake but also for his children. She was just awesome!!

And the dynamic of the two of them playing off each other was pure gold!!! With her being so proper and him being so chill… they were so different but yet they just fit perfectly together. It was brilliant!!!!!!

“What’s next?” I queried.

“Don’t know, Josie. Just know whatever it is I want you to be a part of it and I hope like fuck you want the same.”

What I loved about them most though was how no matter what life threw at them, they didn’t let themselves get dragged down the wrong path. There was just a refreshing lack of ‘stupidity’ from either of them in this book. Don’t laugh, you know what I mean. Gosh, it was just such an amazing feeling to genuinely have that heartfelt respect for the characters. I not only liked them both as people but also agreed with and understood their decisions and the way they handled their lives, families, and relationships. They had each others’ back, supported each other, and didn’t let anything bring them down.

This book was one gorgeous, epic moment after another. I read so many scenes literally clutching at my heart or squeeing out loud with the hugest grin you can imagine on my face. I not only have whole paragraphs of text highlighted text but there are a few sections where I highlighted several pages on end.

Also, while Kristen Ashley is well known for her Alpha male characters, another thing that many of her fans will eagerly agree to is that she writes magical epilogues and I can say with full certainty that this was one of the most heartfelt, emotional, and deeply powerful epilogues she’s ever written. Tears were pouring down my face. It was just so beautiful!!

On a bit of a random note, I think was makes KA’s alphas so amazing is that they each perfectly ride that balance between dominant, possessive, caring, and badass — they’re family men, fighters, protectors, lovers, friends, everything. Some are a little ‘safer’, some are a little ‘edgier’, some more dangerous, others more swoony … and each one of them has a slightly different mix of all these qualities that makes them unique. They each ride that line between almost too much and just absolutely right. It’s like, they’re extreme enough to make your heart race but they feel just real enough to make you accept them. They’re not perfect people though, they have all kinds of flaws and vices and often even make us mad but we love them as they are. They really are the perfect Alpha males.

“To have what Jake had you had to be born the man he became. You couldn’t want it. You simply were going to be it until you were it.”

The Will is one of the most beautifully written and genuinely heart warming romances I have ever read. This is the kind of book you can lose yourself in. It had everything we have come to love from VintageKA — a loooooooong story, oodles of details, phenomenal dialogue, family dynamics unlike any other, hot & passionate romance and that special and totally unique language style that carries the weight, meaning, and heartfelt power that only a Kristen Ashley book can ever deliver.

This book was perfection. I do not have a single complaint. Quite simply, this was KA at her best!!

“I never wanted anything but you, Jake… And I wanted you before I even knew you… You’re everything I ever wanted, darling.”

Rating: 5+++ STARS!!!

** Note: This book is the first of a new 3-part series. Each book will be about a standalone romance about different couples!! This book can be read on it’s own — you don’t need to read any other book before it!!

_________________________________

*** FULL SERIES (STANDALONES) ***

THE WILL (Jake & Josie)
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Get the Audiobook | Read my Review

SOARING (Mickey & Amelia)
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Get the Audiobook | Read my Review

THE TIME IN BETWEEN
Buy for Kindle

Purchase

And, if you’re new to Kristen Ashley books, here’s the complete reading order of all her series 🙂

SALES, NEW RELEASES, PRE-ORDERS, & RECOMMENDATIONS

March 25, 2014 by Aestas · 2 Comments

*Backdated to make room for the new sales page

Check out all these awesome new books & deals!!! There are some brand new books, some recent releases from the last couple weeks that look really good, a whole bunch sales, and several of my most recent recommendations!! Happy reading, everyone! 🙂

THE RESURRECTION OF AUBREY MILLER by LB Simmons – New Release

<— THIS BOOK was just incredible!! Definitely a must-read of the year!! It had that special feeling to it that we’ve come to love from so many of our favorites. I really think that fans of The Sea of Tranquility especially will love this one. — It’s a New Adult standalone about a girl whose fear of death rules her life and her struggle to learn to finally live… and of course, there is a hot guy! 😉 I loved the book from start to finish. The writing was amazing and the story was heartfelt, powerful, moving and just… ADDICTIVE. I’d be near tears one minute and laughing out loud the next. I couldn’t put it down!! 5 STARS!! Read my review.

MAKE IT A DOUBLE by Sawyer Bennett <– My Newest Recommendation!!

I recently finished this and loved it!!! The hero spent the last 5 years in prison and had lost everything important to him and the heroine has distanced herself from the life of luxury she came from and she spends her time helping abused animals in a shelter. When she meets him, they actually don’t get off on the best of terms right away but they have this really strong connection and she “is powerless to stop her personal quest to make Brody whole again.”

My full review is now up but basically, it was a really sweet read with a very unique twist to it and it had a really wonderful balance of an intriguing storyline, a SWOONY romance, crazy hot sex, but also really great character development, and a nicely paced relationship (no insta-love). Just my kind of read!! 😀

ROOM FOR YOU by Beth Ehemann — Top Recommendation!!! (Read my review)

I LOOOOOVED this book and it’s still one of my top recommendations of the moment!!! It was a sweet, swoony, heart-melting, romance, perfectly balanced with just enough angst to keep me on my toes. The heroine is a single mom with 2 little twin girls, and the hero is a famous hockey player (but she doesn’t know that) and a storm strands him at the Inn she runs with her mom and he has to stay a few days…. ok, and just get this — he calls her little girls his Twinkies!!! OMG *SWOON*

It’s the first of a 2-book series (both books are about the same couple, and both are available) and I read the sequel right after and loved it just as much as the first one!! I highly recommend them both!!! SO. MUCH. SWOOOOOON. !!!! Reading order: #1 ROOM FOR YOU, #2 ROOM FOR MORE.

FRAGILE BONDS by Sloan Johnson — Just finished! (Read my review)

This is a very unconventional second chance romance standalone. The set up of it is that Xavier and Melanie were in love – and not only were they in a romantic relationship, but he was also her Dom – and one rash decision tragically broke them apart … now, 6 years later, he’s married with a four year old little boy and his wife, Alyssa, is dying and only has a short time left to live so they bring in a nurse to care for her… and it’s Melanie!!

REGRET TRILOGY SALE BUNDLE by AL Jackson – Huge Sale + Recommendation

<— IT’S LIVE!!!!! The entire REGRET trilogy has been bundled together for $1.99 total (worth $8.97) including all 3 books: Lost To You, Take This Regret, and If Forever Comes. This series is one of my top favorite second chance romances. It’s a heart-wrenching and deeply emotional love story!! I highly recommend it!

PHENOMENAL X by Michelle Valentine — New Release

New fighter romance!! The hero is the “newest superstar of professional wrestling” and the heroine “accepts a job as the assistant to wrestling’s most notorious bad-boy” ➜ Good Girl. Notorious Bad-Boy. One Phenomenal Love. (slight cliffhanger warning)

BRUTALLY BEAUTIFUL by Christine Zolendz — $0.99 Sale + Recommendation

Omg, I loved this book!!! It can be read as a standalone and it was kind of dark & twisty but also quite funny and it had fantastic writing!!! If you are a fan of dark, tortured heroes and strong heroines, definitely grab this book!! Also, I think fans of Night Owl might like this.

LEGAL BRIEFS by N.M. Silber — New Release

This one sounds like a lot of fun!! ➜ “Once upon a time, childhood enemies grew up and fell in love… Can they manage to date without anyone sustaining injury? Can they avoid the mobsters trying to kill them without killing each other first? Find out in Legal Briefs.” (If you want, there are 2 other books in this series that have been bundled together too)

SEX LOVE REPEAT by Alessandra Torre — $0.99 Sale

This book has been recommended to me by so many readers and it’s on SALE now. It’s quite the love triangle and I hear there’s a huge twist that makes it not your average triangle!! Just read the blurb and you’ll see what I mean 😉

BENDER by Stacy Borel — New Release

Teehee!! Here’s another new one that sounds good! A friend of mine is reading it and she’s about ready to slap the hero right now — he seems to be a loveable jerk. I haven’t read it yet but here’s the link if you want to check it out!!

HEARTS OF ANEMOI SERIES & NEW BOOK by Laura Kaye — $0.99 Series Sale

The first 3 books in this fantasy/paranormal romance series have been bundled for $0.99 total & the price of the newest book has also dropped to $0.99!! I saw it described as a “sexy story that packs a powerful emotional punch” — sounds good!!

THE RESISTANCE by SL Scott — $0.99 Pre-Order

Ooooh!! This is a new romance coming out next week and I’m really excited for it!! A reader who read an early copy actually recommended it to me last week and right now you can preorder it for only $0.99!!! It’s a standalone!! ➜ “You don’t choose when. You don’t choose where. And you don’t get to choose who you fall in love with.”

COVET by Tracey Garvis Graves — 50% OFF Sale (Read my review)

The price on this book just dropped!! Usually it’s priced around $10 so this quite a big discount!! This is a fiction novel (not specifically a romance) that has this tagline ➜ What if the life you wanted, and the woman you fell in love with, belonged to someone else?

ONE NIGHT PROMISED by Jodi Ellen Malpas — New book & preorder

Jodi Ellen Malpas’ upcoming book whose cover was revealed today, ONE NIGHT: PROMISED, is now up for pre-order. This is the first book of a new trilogy coming out this summer. You can read the full blurb at this link.

TAMING THE STORM by Samantha Towle — New pre-order announced

YAY!! This is the third book in the Storm series. It’s coming out in July and is Tom & Lyla’s story ➜ “Lyla Summers hates men. Okay, maybe hate is a strong word. Lyla intensely dislikes men… Tom Carter loves women. Okay, love might be pushing it. Tom enjoys screwing lots of women… Put one perpetually horny Tom and one sex resistant Lyla together, equals a recipe for disaster. Or so you’d think…”

HARDWIRED by Meredith Wild

A reader just recommended this series to me and I haven’t read them myself but I’m passing along the links if you want to check them out. This is a “dominant billionaire” type story – the hero is a billionaire hacker who owns a company that the heroine is trying to get to invest in her project… #1 Hardwired, #2 Hardpressed, #3 Hardline (June)

LOVE, IN ENGLISH by Karina Halle — New Release

This is a new standalone forbidden/taboo romance that’s been getting great ratings!! I haven’t read it myself but the blurb says ➜ “when they say you can’t choose who you fall in love with, boy ain’t that the damn truth.”

FIGHTING TO FORGET by J.B. Salsbury — Recent Release (Read my Review)

This is a second chance romance between a tattooed, pierced fighter and the girl from his past that he can’t remember but who can’t forget him!! — “She’s watched him, followed him and kept tabs, all in preparation for this moment: to make amends and share the secret she’s been carrying since she was a kid…”

VITAL SIGN by J.L. Mac — Recent Release (Read my Review)

I read this recently and really enjoyed it!! It’s a beautiful standalone romance about a woman whose husband dies and donates his organs. She spirals into misery but decides to go searching for these people who benefitted from his death and….. “The heart that once fell in love with her now resides in Alexander McBride’s chest.”

UNFIXABLE by Tessa Bailey — $0.99 New Release (Read my Review)

I read this a few days ago and loved it! It was fun, sexy, and light-hearted. Honestly, it felt exactly like “reading” a romantic comedy movie — great banter, a hot hero, a snarky heroine, a little bit of drama thrown in and a happy ending. The heroine was a “sarcastic American girl” fresh off a bad break up who wemt to Ireland where she met a “dark-haired, blue-eyed” famous race car driver “with a bad attitude that rivals her own.”

HAPPENSTANCE by Jamie McGuire — New Announcement + Pre-Order

Jamie McGuire has announced this new 100 page novella that’ll be released in just a few weeks on May 9th!! The cover is just stunning and the story sounds interesting! If you want to find out more about the story, you can read the full blurb and preorder at this link.

ONLY FOR YOU by Genna Rulon — $0.99 Sale

I’ve had this on my TBR for a while and it’s on sale now!! After a wave of violent crime on her university campus, the heroine takes up a school sponsored self-defense seminar, where she meets volunteer instructor, Hunter Charles… (This book can be read as a standalone)

ESCORTED by Claire Kent — $0.99 Sale

“She hired him to take her virginity…but now she wants even more.” — This standalone is only $0.99 (reg. $3.99) The heroine is a popular romance writer who just hadn’t had any personal luck at finding love and is a virgin so she “decides to take matters into her own hands [and] hires a talented, sexy male escort to take care of her inconvenient virginity”

ROCKED by Taryn Elliot & Cari Quinn — $0.99 Sale

This is getting great ratings and at 474 pages, it’s quite a full-length book!! It’s the first in a new rock star romance series. The hero is part of band on tour and the heroine is actually their chef “who makes him crave a lot more than what she’s offering on her serving plate.”

LOSING IT by Cora Carmack — $1.99 Sale (Read my review)

I read this book a while ago but remember that it was really cute & funny!! The heroine is tired of being the only one of her friends who is still a virgin so her solution is a one-night stand. But she freaks and leaves the gorgeous guy alone in her bed… But when she walks into the first day of her class, “she recognizes her new theater professor. She’d left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.”

KISS THIS by Hadley Quinn– $0.99 Sale

I’ve had this book on my TBR for a long time too. It’s about a girl who lost her first love tragically and since then has promised herself she wouldn’t kiss anyone she didn’t love. When she meets the hero, he’s the first guy to make her want to disregard that rule and so she makes a bet not to kiss him for a week… oh, and he has a secret!

THE SECRET OF ELLA AND MICHA by Jessica Sorensen — $0.99 Sale

I read this way back when it first came out and fell in love with it!! I know many of you have read it already but if anyone hasn’t, this is a great deal on a beautiful friends to lovers story about a girl from a broken home and the bad boy who made her feel loved and safe again.

PRICE OF A KISS by Linda Kage — $0.99 Sale (My review)

Awww, this book was fun and swoony!! It’s a standalone where the heroine has a history of impossible relationships and the hero turns out to be a gigolo. Teehee!! ➜ “He could be my soul mate…except for one teeny tiny glitch. He’s a gigolo. Boy, do I know how to pick them.”

LEGAL AFFAIRS by Sawyer Bennett — Serial Sale Bundle

Since I’m a new fan of Sawyer Bennett, I’ve been one-clicking a bunch of her books and noticed that the complete LEGAL AFFAIRS series (all 6 volumes from the serial) have been bundled together. This is an office romance with a “whole lot of hot and a little bit of funny” and REALLY high ratings!! I’m looking forward to them!

…

SIGNED GIVEAWAY — COME TO ME QUIETLY by AL Jackson

March 23, 2014 by Aestas · 188 Comments

I am so excited to bring you a signed giveaway one of the best books I’ve read this year so far….

Come To Me Quietly by A.L. Jackson

AL Jackson is one of my most favorite authors so when I heard she was writing this new book duet, I immediately knew it was a must-read!! Her writing is beautiful and evocative and her way of conveying powerful, heart wrenching emotion through her words is an absolute gift!

Come To Me Quietly is the first of a 2-part series and is currently available for purchase. The second book, Come To Me Softly, will be released on June 24th and is available for pre-order. The first book does not have a relationship cliffhanger so you’re safe to start it now if you’d like.

I’ve linked up the book’s description and purchase links below here… and then be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post to enter a signed giveaway!! Good luck! 😀

❤ COME TO ME QUIETLY ❤

Contemporary New Adult Romance

From the acclaimed bestselling author of Lost to You and When We Collide comes a New Adult novel of one woman’s obsession: a man who’s as passionate as he is elusive—and as tempting as he is trouble…

Aleena Moore is haunted by Jared Holt. It’s been six years since she’s seen her brother’s best friend, the self-destructive bad boy she secretly loved in high school. As the years pass, she knows it’s time to move on. Time to decide between a practical nursing degree and her true dream as an artist. Time to get over Jared and give another guy a chance…

Just when she opens her heart to her friend, Gabe, Aly returns home to find Jared sleeping on her couch. The teenage boy she loved has grown into a man she can’t resist. Covered in tattoos and lost in rage, he’s begging to be saved from his demons—the memories of the day he destroyed his family. As the two reconnect, their passion is hot enough to torch Aly’s judgment. But can she risk her future for a man who lives on the edge of destruction?

Book #1 — COME TO ME QUIETLY
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #2 — COME TO ME SOFTLY
Preorder in Kindle | Preorder in Paperback

❤ SIGNED GIVEAWAY ❤

Open Internationally.
Void where prohibited by law. Must be over 18 to enter.
3 winners will a signed copy of Come To Me Quietly.

…

Book Review — Reclaiming The Sand by A. Meredith Walters

March 19, 2014 by Aestas · 6 Comments

You will hate me. You will love him.
I love him. He has changed my world.

Woah.

This was one tough read but it was absolutely beautiful. The emotions that A. Meredith Walters’ evokes through her writing make you truly feel as though you are living the story alongside her characters and she writes with such vivid imagery that her words just come to life right before your eyes.

This was the kind of book I wanted to read as slowly as possibly just to enjoy the actual writing itself. However, despite the beautiful writing, this book was not always easy to read. From the moment I read the blurb, I knew this was going to be a heart breaking story but I fully trusted this author to do the story justice. She really earned my trust and respect with her phenomenal Find You In The Dark series whose hero had a mental illness. That story really stayed with me and even now when I think back on it, my heart squeezes. But even more importantly, the way she tacked the difficult subject matter was so respectful that I knew that if there was any author who could tell this story, it was her. Let me explain a little about the story in Reclaiming The Sand here to give you a bit of a background…

Ellie was a girl who’d grown up passed from foster home to foster home, and by high school had ended up in juvie. Now, living in a small, rundown, dead end town with a rap sheet, bad friends, and a quick temper, her propects in life were bleak at best. She’d learned the hard way to put herself first and had built up a reputation as a hot head and a girl no one should mess with.

“My life had beaten all of the good out of me until there was nothing left but the shell of a person I was now.”

And then one day, a guy walked back into her town. Freaky Flynn Hendrick. The guy she hadn’t seen in six years. The guy she blamed for ruining her life.

But Flynn was a little different than everyone. He had Asperger’s — a form of Autism — and had many characteristics that made him stand out in society. With no filter between his brain and mouth, an extreme aversion to being touched, and difficulty reading people’s emotions, he was easily a target for bullying. Unfortunately though, in the past that bully had most often been Ellie.

She and her friends tormented him endlessly throughout high school — calling him names, physically hurting him, emotionally crushing him, mocking him, ganging up on him, publicly humiliating him… they heartlessly bullied him day in and day out. But he and Ellie did eventually built a friendship of sorts — in secret. Until one day, one bad choice brought everything crashing down. That was six years ago.

“I had been weak and pathetic and unwilling to stand up to the people who tormented him, no matter how much I wanted to.

And I had joined in. I had bruised and hurt him. Wounding him with maliciousness that he had never deserved.

I had cared about Flynn. So much….

I had let him in.

And then I had pushed him away in the only way I could.

By destroying him.

And in doing so I had destroyed a part of myself that had only started to flourish in the warmth of his affection.

And these feelings hardened and solidified, freezing my heart and numbed me to everything. Then I had only survived. Only existed.

Until he had reappeared in my life.”

In the present day, Flynn kept showing up. Here, there, everywhere. She was drawn to him — unable to stay away from the boy she blamed for so much and who also filled her with such guilt.

“He reminded me of the girl I had been. One that wasn’t angry. That wasn’t bitter.

He made me remember a lonely girl who had been drawn to a sad boy and had found comfort in him.”

And somehow, despite their past, a beautiful and unlikely love story unfolded…

With chapters flipping back and forth between Ellie and Flynn’s POVs, we really got a very complete picture of the situation. I was surprised to find that I actually didn’t hate Ellie as much as I thought I would. I mean, there was no doubt that her actions were horrible, selfish, and downright cruel at times, but I think that getting her perspective allowed me to see how much she hated herself too which made me almost pity her more than anything. I won’t deny that there were many times when I hated her actions though — especially during the times when she was aware of how wrong her actions were but didn’t stop. I was angry at the way she allowed herself to be pushed around by her friends and peer pressured over and over again. But I was proud when she finally tried to pull herself out of her spiral and make a better life for herself.

“I had focused on the wrong things. The wrong people. And I had paid the price for it.

Maybe this time could be different.

Maybe this time I could be different.”

In the alternate POV, the author did a phenomenal job especially of showing us the world through Flynn’s eyes. It was impossible not to love him. His blunt honesty, his direct outlook on life, both his strengths and his vulnerabilities, his shy smile, and everything about him just tugged at my heart strings. And with way his chapters were written very much reflected his direct thoughts and feelings allowing us to really connect with the way he saw the world.

“I hate being alone. I want people to talk to me. I want them to like me. It makes me angry when I try to say something and people ignore me. Or worse they laugh.

They call me names. Lots of names. Mean names.”

This wasn’t a book where there was some sort of magic cure and all the problems just miraculously disappear at the end. Flynn’s syndrome was not something that would ever go away — it was a part of who he was. Between him and Ellie, he would always be more vulnerable, and she would always be strong in many ways. But as we were shown in the book, there were many strengths he had that put him far above everyone else.

“There were never two people more ill suited for a relationship than us. We were all wrong. We didn’t stand a chance.

And that made me want to fight for it even harder.”

My heart broke for him over and over again. I loved him for who he was. Just as he was. To everyone else, he was different, abnormal, a freak. But to him… his reality was the only one he’d known. To him, he was normal.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asks me and my stomach twists up. Everyone always asks me that. I don’t understand why they ask me that.”

Gosh, he was just such a beautiful soul. So pure. So full of good. His shy smile, his huge heart, his trust (if sometimes heartbreakingly misplaced), his endless forgiveness, and his love healed a girl who’d become so embittered by life, who’d given into her anger, who’d hurt him, used him, and tormented him, all out of a desperate need to be loved herself.

Their multi layered history made for a very rich, complex dynamic. Even before I knew the details of their past, even before it turned romantic, I could feel some sort of close connection between them.

“Both of us were so isolated.

But then we had somehow found each other.

And here we were again. We were still those same disconnected people that we had been years ago, only now a little older and a little more damaged.”

I found it interesting to note as an observation that when Flynn had a meltdown or an outburst, it was considered “freaky” to everyone around him because of his “condition” but when one of Ellie’s “normal” friends (who honestly just seemed psychotic to me) had an outburst, people just accepted it as “her” and shrugged it off. It was an interesting reflection of the prejudice and double standards rampant in our world.

Falling in line with the nature of the story, the romance between Ellie and Flynn was slow building and very gently paced. But the beautiful writing built the story up in such a way that by the time things began to move beyond just friendship between them, my heart was just fluttering all over the place. It was all portrayed in a very non-explicit fashion, focusing more on the emotional connection shared than on vivid physical descriptions.

“What we shared was so much more than sex. It was an intimacy that came from baring your heart to someone who you knew would take care of it.”

My one and only complaint in the whole book was that I felt that the ending was rushed. I already was on edge because of a certain choice Ellie had made towards the end and my poor, bruised heart could really have used a more detailed resolution to help it heal. But please don’t get me wrong — there is a happy ending, but I just would have wanted a little bit more.

Regardless, A. Meredith Walters has shown us once again that she has an extraordinary ability to take difficult topics and present them in a candid, yet deeply respectful manner. Her stories feel real. Believable. I love her writing style, I love the uniqueness of her stories, and I love the effortless grace with which she projects her characters’ emotions right onto you. I love that she shows how romance book heroes don’t have to be soldiers and fighters, bad boys and millionaires. She shows us with Flynn that a romantic hero can be anyone; that their heart is all that counts.

“He owned me. Completely.
There was no coming back from this.
Flynn had reclaimed me.”

Rating: 4.5 stars. This was originally a standalone, but a sequel has been announced.

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