4.5 stars

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4.5 stars

What a lovely, sweet, touching story <3

You know that wonderful feeling you get when you just sink into a well-written read? Well, I totally got that with this book. The writing style is strong, fluid and evocative and draws you right into the story.

I have to say I was hesitant to start this one because, just personally, I hate carnivals and I wasn’t sure if this was a carnival-centric story… so, just to set the record straight: it isn’t. Not at all. *nods* Right, ok, on to the review.

The year is 1946 (but don’t worry, this book does not have the feel of a historical novel) and ever since the death of her husband in the war, Sarah is just trying to keep going. Her heart froze the day her husband’s body was shipped home and she isn’t looking for anyone to replace him. But, in an effort to cheer her, her friend drags her to a carnival which is passing through town and she finds herself drawn to and riveted by a tattooed man with intense blue eyes on display in one of the tents. Their eyes meet only for a moment, but in that moment, they share a connection – its as though he sees right into her.

She goes down the next morning to find the tattooed man sleeping in her hayloft. “His eyes were the saddest she’d ever seen.” and she offers him to stay on and help her on the farm in exchange for room and board.

But the man who runs the circus is out looking for him and and the lies and rumors spread around town warping him into some sort of dangerous, lunatic freak. And while Sarah can accept him into her life, the real question is whether the townsfolk will be so open-minded?

I really loved Tom’s character. I found myself instantly wanting to know more about him. He wasn’t your typical Alpha male character but rather a deeply tortured, damaged man with a heart of gold and filled with a quiet intensity that draws Sarah to him like a magnet. His back story isn’t gone into in detail but what little we see is filled with pain, loneliness and abuse at the hands of the carnival owner. Every inch of his body is tattooed. EVERY. INCH. And, hot as that may sound now, remember, it was all done to him against his will.

 “Skin is skin, Grace. The tattoos are only on the surface you know. He’s a man.”
A sexy, vulnerable, intense, attractive, sweet, gentle and loving man.

I loved how Sarah trusted her gut feeling about Tom from the beginning. Even though technically she knew nothing about him, she treated him with the utmost respect and kindness – probably the first real kindness he’d ever known. And in return she was rewarded as he slowly learned to trust her, open up to her, and show her his true self – the one hidden away from the world behind a canvas of art forced on his body.

He whispered against her hair, “I don’t belong here and they know it.”
“Yes you do. You do belong here.” She took his face in her hands and looked in his eyes. “You belong with me.” 

“I don’t know why,” she admitted. “Its just you. I want to be with you. I feel like we belong together.” She smoothed one hand up his torso and rested it on his chest, picturing the chained heart and feeling his real heart beating steadily beneath it. “Don’t you?”

The bedroom scenes were hottttt. And I mean that in a quietly powerful, erotic way. Not kinky but very, very passionate. I was surprised by that though because, for whatever reason, I really thought this book would gloss over that but boy was I wrong! I found that it really brought a beautiful blend between erotic and sweet between them and yet a more serious story line outside of their relationship.

There is a slight ‘non-real’-ish element to the story. Tom gets visions of some things before they happen. He is the son of the carnival fortune teller and in this story, these are just accepted as part of him. This is not a paranormal story, nor is that the focus of the story, but I figured I’d mention it in case you guys read it, came across it and went ‘huh?’. Just roll with it. Its a part of him 🙂

I’d say my only complaint overall was that I wished it were longer. It only took me a few hours to read and there were a few places in the middle of the book where I felt it was just a smidge rushed. It wasn’t that it didn’t fit with the storyline, I just would have wished for an extra chapter here or there. But the plus side to that was that the story never dragged, not even for a moment… I did find the ending a little abrupt and definitely found myself wanting either a few more chapters or an epilogue of sorts, but don’t let that deter you. It was oh-so-happy, sweet and swoony and the HEA is never in question, I just would have wanted more is all.

Overall, I’d say it was exactly the kind of read I needed right now. Sweet, hot, and different with a beautiful message about love having no limitations.

Definitely recommended to add to your TBRs 🙂

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CASTING:

• I have to say that the guy on the cover is the perfect Tom. I just love it when covers actually accurately reflect the characters from the story and clearly whoever did this one did a phenomenal job because when you read the story, you’ll learn that those are his exact tattoos. So here is a link to a bigger version of the pic if you want to see up close –> Click here

• Buy THE SECRET OF ELLA AND MICHA for Kindle (Amazon)

4.5 stars

“…when it all comes down to it, it’s just me and her against the world. Always has been.”

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.

Ella and Micha came from a life of broken homes and bad neighbourhoods but ever since childhood, they have been there for each other – the best of friends. As they grew up, Micha wanted more but sensed something in Ella was holding her back and he never pushed her further.

Then one day, after their first kiss, Ella quite literally walks right out of his life. For eight months, he doesn’t hear a word from her. And ever since that day he has been desperately trying to find her.

Now, she suddenly she comes back home. But she has changed. Growing up, she always had been fiery – a rule breaker, an adreneline junkie, always speaking her mind, seizing the moment and taking risks – pretty much the girl equivalent of a bad boy. Now she’s a lot quieter, blends in more with people… is different.

But something made her leave and something is keeping her now from fully opening up to him and Micha will stop at nothing to figure out what has been keeping the girl he’s always been in love with away from him.

“See, the same old Ella still lives.” He grins… “She just needed a little push out.”…
“No, she doesn’t. She’s gone forever.”
“Try all you want, but I’m bringing her back.”

The characters are a wonderful mix of both endearing and mysterious. I felt like I knew just enough about them to connect me to them and to make me care but there was just enough that I didn’t know about them to keep up the mystery and the intrigue.

This book surprised me a lot – for some reason, this wasn’t the plot I was expecting but I really enjoyed the read.

Ella has pretty serious intimacy issues that stemmed from when she was a child – coming from a broken home, with a bi polar mother, a drunk father and an absentee brother… that kind of childhood would be bound to mark anyone.

But she had Micha who was just *swoon* a gorgeous character. A tattoed, musician bad boy with a lip ring, the kindest heart and a serious soft spot for this girl that he’s loved since he was sixteen.

It took Ella a while to accept Micha’s feelings for her. And at first I found it a little frustrating, but the more I learned about her character, the more I found her reactions understandable.

And when she finally realized that there’s this guy who has been there for her her whole life and whole is just head over heels in love with her – like truly, deeply in love – who’d do anything for her, oh my swoon is it beautiful!

 “I love you, Ella May and nothing will ever change that. You can push me away -run away – and I will still love you.”

I could just feel how much he loved her. He’d do anything for her. Drop his life. Give up anything.  This girl is his world. And he loved her enough to be patient with her and just be her friend while she sorted out her world.

“Stay here, baby,” he whispers…”Trust me, okay?” Don’t run.”

And guys, don’t go into this expecting some big “they-are-really-secret-agents” kind of secret. That’s really not the point of this book. The secrets are deeper than that. Its the complex sum of the emotions and experiences that have made them both who they are. What drives them. What kept them apart. What ultimately brings them together.

And omg the ending!! I swear my heart stopped! I was sensing a total Effortless vibes there. I totally didn’t expect that ending and I know everything will mostly likely be okay in the end but in the meantime, seriously… SNIFFFFFFF!!

Thank god for the mini-epilogue! It healed my heart and left me in a happy place…. but desperately looking forward to Book 2.

**little tidbit from the author: I was curious how to pronounce “Micha” whether it was Meesha or My-ka and she confirmed that the way she says it is “My-ka”

CASTING:

• Buy DAMAGED GOODS for Kindle

4.5 stars

*happy sigh* Its the best feeling ever to find books that I love!! And this is one of them 🙂

This is not a traditional love story. Its about a male prostitute and a single mom finding love and finding a way to make a relationship work despite the difficulties of their situation.

Its wonderful, well-written, and swoony, with toe-curling hotness, a beautifully functional relationship, no stupidity and a very happy ending 🙂

I could tell right from the start that I was going to love it. The writing style was strong and flowed smoothly, I was smiling from the first page and was immediately drawn into the story.

Frustrated with the trials, tribulations, and complications of dating, single mom Jocelyn decides to take her friend’s advice and try an escort service.

“Once in a while… I just want a long night with a beautiful man who wants nothing more than to make me come and fuck me senseless.”

When Sabian shows up at her hotel room, he’s everything she could have wanted and more. Gorgeous, skilled, and basically, every woman’s fantasy. Thrilled with the experience, she hires him a few more times and finds herself quite drawn to him. But the real him, not just the part of him she’s paying for.  One thing leads to another and as he starts to open up to her and shows her the man behind Sabian, the real him – Austin, they slowly begin to realize that on so many levels, they are perfect for each other… and so begins the dicey situation of dating an escort…

• “Who do you want?” he asked. “Sabian or Austin?”

k, don’t judge me here but male prostitutes totally have a bit of a thrill to them… and one of them finding love is even better. I guess its something about the whole situation being a little taboo, not allowed, kind of an impossible situation to be in and also to start a relationship in… but the concept it just so hotttt!!!

“Growling in my ear, he said, “Do you want the gentleman or the caveman right now?”

I loved that the story didn’t feel over-the-top or fairy-tale perfect. It felt totally real. It was told entirely from Jocelyn’s POV and you felt right in her head. She was a wonderful heroine with a good head on her shoulders. It was refreshing to have a heroine that I never once wanted to throttle. In fact, there were  many many situations where I was actually seriously impressed with the way she was handling things. Makes it much easier to connect to heroines when you actually an understand and sympathize with what’s going on inside their heads.

Sabian/Austin was just… oh my HOT!! I fell in love with him right from the first scene and I’d pretty much just sit there fanning myself through each of the bedroom scenes. But let alone the toe curling, mind blowing sex, the dirty talking, the sweetness, the intensity of what they had was just thrilling. And the whole slightly forbidden aspect of what they had just added to the thrill of it. The fact that what they were doing at first, the sex, was really happening, and yet it was in many ways fake, but with undercurrents of real attraction and desire… and then watching that lead to real desire, and real passion, real intimacy and real intensity… oooooo it was swoony!!

The more comfortable he became with Jocelyn, the more he began to show her the real him – the fun, sweet, artistic guy behind the suave, sophisticated, confident escort. He became so much more real, and as a reader, I got to connect with him on a more personal level seeing him tired from work, groggy in the morning, enjoying video games, nervous on a first real date, cooking food, having fun, just being himself.

But at the same time, I loved his approach to his job. He had no shame in what he did and made a really good case for it actually. I loved that perspective and what it said about him.

“It doesn’t bother you that you’re selling yourself?”
“I’m not selling myself,” he said matter-of-facile, “I sell a service, use my body to give that service… And afterward, I leave with as much of myself as I came in with.” 

I absolutely LOVED how respectful Jocelyn was of Austin and his job and the process of curiosity she went through trying to figure it out and finally come to terms with it – asking about his job, trying to find out more about his life. She was inquisitive but never absolutely never looked down on him or judged him negatively for what he did.

And I loved that when they finally came together, nothing was rushed. No insta-love. No fairy-tale everything-falling-into-place perfection. They worked to create a functional, understanding relationship. What they had was unconventional and they had to write their own rules and figure out their own rhythm.

K, something I know a lot of you are going to be wondering about is: does he quit his job once they are together? and hear me out here cuz you probably aren’t going to like the answer. No, he doesn’t quit his job right away. Now, hold up, don’t run for the hills now that you’ve heard that, cuz I’m the kind of person that under pretty much any other circumstance would have hated that, but I can honestly say that I was actually okay with here. Honest. Well, okay, fine, so I wasn’t like ‘okay okay’ with it in the sense of I wasn’t jumping for joy, but at the same time, despite the situation being uncomfortable at times, it never ever felt like he was cheating on her, weird as that may sound.

“There’s sex, and there’s… this.” He met my eyes. “Just being with someone like this. This isn’t something that can be bought or sold, and I couldn’t manufacture it for someone no matter how much they tried to pay me for it…. That’s why I’m here tonight. Because I need this. And here, with you, is the only place I can get it.” He swallowed hard. “Or give it.”

“Just remember one thing: regardless of how anyone chooses to define what I do for a living, I’m not selling what I’m giving you. If this isn’t something you can handle, I’ll understand, but I swear to you. I’ve never given this to anyone. I wouldn’t dream of selling it, even if I could.” 

They really highlighted, SO clearly, the difference between ‘sex’ and ‘intimacy’ – between having sex in the clinical sense and having sex in the romantic/meaningful sense. And the truth of it is, I totally understood the way they handled it. It wasn’t easy – I mean, its an impossible situation to be in. And they worked through everything you’d imagine people in their situations to deal with in an adorable, understandable and functional way!! Seriously, nothing makes me happier in a book than a functional relationship 🙂

And of course, there is a beautiful HEA (and epilogue). I will say, I could have totally want a leeeeetle more at the end. But still, I loved it and if you haven’t read this, its definitely one to add to the top TBR list 🙂

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CASTING:

• Sabian/Austin: Click here and here
• Jocelyn: Click here
• Austin & Jocelyn: Click here

• Buy LETTERS TO A SECRET LOVER (Kindle)

4.5 stars!

*grins* I loved this book!!! It was a surprising, beautiful, sexy love story about second chances, acceptance, self- forgiveness, and finding happiness 🙂

I started it last night intending to only reading the first 10-20% of it but ended up staying up till 3:30AM to finish it! It kind of fools you a little because it starts out light and funny but before you know it, it gets really emotionally deep.

Linsday is sure she has it all – great job as a love advice columist/blogger, a to-die-for shoe collection and she is one half of Chicogo’s latest ‘it’ couple. But everything comes crashing down after her fiance abruptly and unceremoniously dumps her. Desperate to get away from the humiliation of her break up, she heads off to a small town in Montana intent on buying back the an old family property from whoever now owns it and simultaneously deciding that a little fling would help her get back on the sex horse.

Upon arriving in the town, she sets her eyes on a tall, dark, scowling hunk of a man who walks in the bar. Little did she expect he would be Rob Coulter, the reclusive new owner of her aunt’s property and who not only would not be interested in selling it but also seems uninterested in a fling or pretty much anything social. He’s gruff, rough and hot as hell and she has her work cut out for her trying to get to know this man who holds two things she now wants… But the more time they spend together, they both start realizing that they are falling for whats behind the facades they have both built up against the world.

“Well, you’re in,” and headed unceremoniously for the door.
And without meaning to, she said exactly what she was thinking, her sarcasm coming through loud and clear. “My hero.”
He stopped with one black work boot out the door and looked back, his eyes narrowing slightly, his expression going even darker. “I never claimed to be anybody’s hero, sweetheart.”
And then he was gone.

The characters were lovable, the story intrigued me and did not have any dull moments, and I adored the writing style – it was fun and light on the surface with undertones of deep and serious. Even though I was laughing out loud and cackling with glee in the beginning, it was in a more serious way, you know? It wasn’t a humorous book, it just had funny moments, and you could tell there were a lot more deeper emotions just beneath the surface and when they all came out, boy did it HIT me!!

I loved Rob! Although on the outside he appeared aloof, reclusive and gruff, as we got bits of his POV, it became very clear he had a big heart and had suffered serious hurt in the past that had left a big mark on him. Along with a tattoo of “Gina” that he had over his heart, an aversion to relationships and a series of beautiful love letters written to Gina, he was quite the mysterious, tortured and yet lovable, sexy mountain man.

And I actually also really loved Lindsay. It took her a while to lose her overly materialistic side (lol, and figure out that 5 inch spiky heels weren’t prime hiking material) but I liked that despite that, she had really good intentions, wasn’t ditzy, and grew a lot as a person over the course of the book.

I felt myself totally drawn into the story. I wanted to know more. There’s so much anticipation! So many secrets! I wanted to know Rob’s past. Why was the the way he was? What could have made such a big-hearted guy so reclusive? Who was the girl in his letters? Why did he get her name tattooed on his heart? What was their history? Why did he withdraw from people, and especially relationships? And what was it that made him open himself back up, to her? Would Lindsay end up with the property? Was that even the best decision? … I loved it! I had so many theories forming about the secrets at the same time as watching their romance unfold.

And speaking of romance, Rob and Linsday’s chemistry was on FIRE!! Their sexual tension sizzled but when they finally pushed through it, it was scorching!!!! *faints* When they fell, they fell hard. It was intense, beautiful and thrilling.

Oddly enough, at about 65% in, I put two and two together and figured it all out. I had strong suspicions from earlier on what the secret was, but at that point, I was sure. I could totally predict the bad stuff that was unfolding, I literally face palmed myself twice (yes, it hurt, I’m an idiot) while vividly imaging screaming and cursing at the heroine… but here’s the weird thing, it didn’t bother me that I knew, and the mistake was pretty innocent so I found it very forgiveable, and I still totally enjoyed every moment of the story.

By the end of the book, my heart was in my throat. My prediction was right and that didn’t help me prepare for it one tiny bit! I had fallen so in love with the characters and felt for them so strongly that I was terrified for them! … but don’t let that scare you – there is, of course, a beautiful HEA and epilogue 🙂

Definitely add this to the steamy contemporary romance to-read pile!!

I reeeeeally really hope someone in the movie industry reads this book and decides to turn it into a movie. I could picture the whole thing in my head so vividly – some of the scenes were just gorgeous. It really would make the PERFECT movie!! *crosses fingers and toes*

• Buy LETTERS TO A SECRET LOVER (Kindle)