Sunday, January 31, 2016

January Favorites


January 2016 has to be one of the BEST starts to a year of reading I've had in years. There are many novels that we read this month that we will most definitely be reading again because they were that good. Let's take a look, shall we?


(clicking on the image will take you to more info about the books)


God Shaped Hole by Tiffanie DeBartolo--I read this one at a time in my life when I was circling the drain of grief and all I can say is that this novel held my hand throughout that process. It shaped my days and gave me some much needed perspective. 

Deacon by Kristen Ashley--I love this particular series and especially the heroine in Deacon. Cassie was so strong and focused and clear about who she was and what she wanted; a perfect foil to Deacon. 

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp--This novel was so gripping--as a high school teacher I felt especially connected to what was happening and why. I appreciated the multiple narrators, a cast of characters rich in diverse backgrounds and desires, and an ending that felt like real. I can't wait to read what Nijkamp writes next.

Loud Is How I Love You by Mercy Brown--Dude. Can I be Mercy Brown when I grow up? The coolness factor is OFF THE CHARTS and her debut novel was perfect. Emmy was focused and funny and just such a mess and I couldn't help but love her. The music scene, the setting, the decade--all of those hit the most perfect notes with me; maybe it's because I was in college and caught many of the references or maybe I just liked reliving my glory days? It doesn't matter because what does matter is that Mercy Brown has another novel on the way and I can't wait to read it!

First Touch by Laurelin Paige-- I can't really due the hotness or the ending justice. SERIOUSLY. All I can say is that this novel was a total page turner for me and the end had my jaw on the floor. Hurry up and get book two out, Laurelin Paige, I'm dying here!

Hold On by Kristen Ashley--Is it wrong to hope that all of the characters in this series make a reappearance or that somewhere down the line another book makes its way into this series? I loved Merry and Cher and everything about them and their families and friends. This novel was a fantastic way to end the series, even if I didn't want to see it end, and the epilogue was completely satisfying.

F*ck Love by Tarryn Fisher--This was the very first novel I read for 2016 and I truly hope it's a harbinger of things to come. This novel was motivating, insightful, funny, and inspiring. It's top on my list of novels to re-read and if you haven't met Helena you must--she changed me a little and I owe her and Tarryn Fisher a huge thank you for kicking me in the ass to make some much needed changes.

Looking at the reviews coming up in February, I can honestly say that January wasn't a freak of nature--there are a ton of great books coming your way. Until next month, happy reading....

Friday, January 29, 2016

COVER REVEAL: Some Sort of Love by Melanie Harlow




Title: Some Sort of Love
Series: Happy Crazy Love #3
Author: Melanie Harlow
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Cover Design: Jenn Watson, Social Butterfly PR
Cover Photo: Love N. Books
Cover Model: Franggy Yanez  
 Release Date: February 9, 2016



Blurb

On the surface, I have it all—a career I adore, a loving family, the Nixon metabolism but not the Nixon ears, and a salary that supports my lavish taste in designer shoes, fine wine, and lacy lingerie…but I have no one to share it with.

Until the day I run into him—my one night stand from college with the cocky smile, let’s-get-out-of-here eyes, and dirty, dirty mouth.

Levi Brooks is six feet four inches of hot bearded fantasy. A sexy single dad with broad shoulders, strong hands, and a fantastically big…heart. (I mean, it’s massive. And generous. And it pumps so hard… um. Sorry. Lost my place.)

But he lives for his son, and he's keeping me at a distance because he thinks I deserve someone better—a man who can give me more time, more attention, more of himself. He doesn’t believe he could ever be enough.

But he's wrong.

He’s everything.









Pre-order Links

AMAZON US / UK
iBOOKS



Excerpt

“So.” I glanced out the windows to the patio. “You want to go back out there?”

“Not really,” she said.

“You want to get out of here?”

She grinned. “Yeah. I do.”

I watched her rush up the stairs to get her things, and as soon as she was out of sight, I adjusted myself in my pants. My dick had jumped to life the second she said yeah, I do, as if the question had been you want to get naked and fuck? rather than something much less suggestive. Not that I didn’t want to get naked and fuck—hopefully I’d last a little longer than I had in the broom closet eleven years ago—but I didn’t want to make her feel like that’s what I expected. She wasn’t a horny nineteen-year-old college student anymore; she was a doctor, for fuck’s sake. She was beautiful and smart and mature and sophisticated, and a woman like her did not want some Neanderthal who probably needed a haircut and a new pair of shoes to throw her up against a wall for a five-minute fuck.

A woman like that deserved attention all night long. She deserved someone who would undress her slowly and delight in each new inch of her skin as it was revealed. Someone who would run his hands all over her body and find out where she liked to be touched, how she liked to be touched, what she wanted to hear whispered to her in the dark. Someone who would wrap those gloriously long legs around his neck and use his tongue until she begged for his cock, then use his cock until she begged for mercy.

Fuck. I could be that guy.


Except I couldn’t be. Not tonight. Because I wasn’t a horny college student anymore either—I was just a horny single dad who didn’t have the luxury of taking a woman home and lavishing all my time and attention on her the way I wanted to.

As soon as I had the thought, I felt guilty. Scotty was the love of my life and always would be, and whenever I felt the slightest bit resentful about something I couldn’t do because of him, that resentment was immediately crushed by shame. He didn’t ask to be born wired differently, into a terrible relationship, to a mother who would decide she couldn’t handle being a parent, to a father who wasn’t prepared for any of it. He was completely innocent, and he needed me to be a better man.

Running a hand through my hair, I exhaled and wondered if I should ask Jillian for a raincheck on a night when Scotty’s usual sitter could be there. If he woke up again and I wasn’t home yet, he might never get back to sleep. We’d be up all night, tomorrow would be miserable, and the whole start to the week would be off.

But she was so beautiful. And I hadn’t been this attracted to someone in so long.

“Fuck,” I muttered, checking my watch. What was the right thing to do? If she were a different sort of woman, if her brother-in-law weren’t my friend and client, if we lived three states apart…if any number of circumstances were changed, I’d grab her hand, drag her out to my car, and spend the next thirty minutes fucking her brains out in the back seat. It would feel so good to take control that way, to lose control that way, to release some of this fucking tension. But was that fair to her?

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

“Hello?”

“He’s up again.” Monica’s voice was strained, and in the background I heard the familiar keening of a nighttime meltdown. My chest hurt, the way it always did when Scotty was upset.

“Shit. OK, I’m on my way. Twenty minutes, OK? Thirty at the most.”

“OK.”

“Tell him he can play on his iPad.”

“That’ll just rile him up more. He’s tired. He needs to go to sleep.”

I clenched my fist. “Just do it, OK? It will help calm him until I get there.”

As I ended the call, I heard footsteps above, and then Jillian appeared at the top of the stairs carrying a small suitcase. I watched her descend, the tightness in my chest growing. Also the tightness in my pants. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she said, her face concerned as she reached the ground and saw my expression. She set down the suitcase. “What’s up?”

Sighing, I put my phone back in my pocket. “I have to get home. Scotty woke up and he’s upset.”

“Oh.” She tried to hide it, but I saw the disappointment in her eyes.

“I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“That’s OK. I understand.”

“Can I call you?”

“Of course.” She smiled, and her lips looked so soft and inviting, I took a step closer.

If you kiss her, it will be that much harder to leave.

I knew it was the truth, but I couldn’t help myself. One kiss. Just one. And then I’ll go. I moved even closer and took her head in my hands.

The curve of her smile deepened. “What are you doing?”

“I’m thinking about kissing you.”

“Stop thinking.”

I lowered my lips to hers and let them rest there, fully intending the kiss to be short and sweet, just a goodnight.

But I couldn’t break it off. I wanted more—I wanted to taste her. Slanting my head, I changed the angle of the kiss, teasing her mouth open with mine, slipping my tongue between her lips. A little sigh escaped her, and my dick jumped to life again.

You have to go, you have to go, you have to go.

But her hands were moving up my chest and my fingers were sliding into her soft brown hair and I could smell something sweet and citrusy on her skin and it mingled with the taste of whiskey on my tongue and oh God, I wanted my tongue everywhere on her body. I wanted make her come with it just so I could hear that little sigh again and again and again. And I wanted to feel my hands in her hair just like this while she got on her knees and took my cock between her lips, looking up at me with those big blue eyes…

Groaning, I forced myself to take my lips off her before I completely lost my senses. “God, I wish I could stay,” I said, resting my forehead against hers. “I wish a lot of things.”

“I know.” She played with my tie again. “I wish I was taking this tie off you, not straightening it.”

“What a coincidence, that’s one of my wishes too.”

She laughed and kissed me quickly. “Another time, maybe. You better go.”




Also Available


AMAZON US / UK



AMAZON US / UK



Author Bio

Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. When she's not writing or reading, she gets her kicks from TV series like VEEP, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and Homeland. She occasionally runs three miles, but only so she can have more gin and steak.

Melanie is the author of the HAPPY CRAZY LOVE series, the FRENCHED series, and the sexy historical SPEAK EASY duet, set in the 1920s. She lifts her glass to romance readers and writers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.



Author Links




Giveaway
 

Thursday, January 28, 2016

COVER + BLURB for C.D. Reiss's Hard Ball


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Now Available for Pre-order!

Barnes & Noble - http://bit.ly/1OZ6eXX

Release Date: March 29th


Blurb

  • Perfect ass.
    Perfect arms.
    Perfect swagger.
    They call Dash Wallace the Diamond King.
  • He’s the hottest commodity in baseball and in the bedroom.
  • When he runs the bases, every woman’s eyes are glued to his stunning body and a smile that puts the night lights to shame.
  • I’m no queen. I’m a regular girl with a regular job. I just watch him on TV and from the bleachers, season after season.
  • Girls like me grab a guy like that one in a million times.
  • My number just came up, and he is as spectacular in bed as he is on the field.
  • But there’s not a woman in the world who can distract Dash Wallace from the game. Not for a moment. Not even me.
  • Until the night I do. And everything changes.

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About the Author
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CD Reiss is a USA Today and Amazon bestseller. She still has to chop wood and carry water, which was buried in the fine print. Her lawyer is working it out with God but in the meantime, if you call and she doesn’t pick up, she’s at the well, hauling buckets.

Born in New York City, she moved to Hollywood, California to get her master’s degree in screenwriting from USC. In case you want to know, that went nowhere, but it did embed TV story structure in her head well enough for her to take a big risk on a TV series structured erotic series called Songs of Submission. It’s about a kinky billionaire hung up on his ex-wife, an ingenue singer with a wisecracking mouth; art, music and sin in the city of Los Angeles.

Critics have dubbed the books “poetic,” “literary,” and “hauntingly atmospheric,” which is flattering enough for her to put it in a bio, but embarrassing enough for her not to tell her husband, or he might think she’s some sort of braggart who’s too good to give the toilets a once-over every couple of weeks or chop a cord of wood.

If you meet her in person, you should call her Christine.


Stalk Her: Facebook | Twitter | Website | Goodreads | Pinterest | Instagram

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Sale + Surprise from Ava Harrison!


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“Once upon a time my marriage was built on love...
Until it wasn’t.”

Imperfect Truth  by Ava Harrison is NOW ON SALE FOR  ONLY $0.99!

As a special treat to her loyal fans.  Ava has released a  SURPRISE FREE EPILOGUE.  
Perfect Truth is NOW LIVE!  
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Blurb
I’m a blogger.  He’s a writer.
He was my weakness.
I was his muse.

Once upon a time my marriage was built on love...
Until it wasn’t.

Where had we gone wrong?
I had given up hope…

But then he messaged me,
And his words intoxicated me.
Made me believe in love again.

Made me believe in truth.
My imperfect truth…

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Want to know what happened to Ava after Imperfect Truth?
Read Perfect Truth NOW for FREE!  
**Price is subject to change.  May not be available outside the US**



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Excerpt:  Perfect Truth by Ava Harrison

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.
              I stare at my phone then back in the mirror. No way. It can’t be, can it? My brain counts backward. Four weeks. Nah, no chance. I was alone four weeks ago. See, overreacting as usual.                                Wait…
              What was I doing two weeks ago?
              A memory creeps into my brain. Oh, I totally remember what I was doing. My cheeks flush at the vision now playing out in my head. That was one hell of a night…and morning…and following afternoon. I vaguely remember champagne, whip cream and… holy shit, handcuffs? A loud, boisterous laugh escapes my mouth. Yep, one hell of a night. Could it be? Could I be?
              My heartbeat starts to accelerate, as the reality of the situation hits me head on. Oh my God. I totally am. It’s only been three months since things have been good. Are we ready for this? Is he ready? Shit…
              Am I ready?
`        My arm accidentally runs against my chest. Goddamn that hurts.
              Yep, better get ready.
***
              My feet take brisk steps as I make my way to Jules apartment. I don’t think I have ever walked so fast in my life, my impending fate exciting me to the core.
              A light sweat breaks out across my forehead the closer I get to my destination, the crisp fall air doing nothing to calm the excitement radiating from my body.  As I approach the building, I nod my head in a familiar gesture to the doorman and then head over to the elevator. Once inside I press the floor and wait for the doors to close. My foot nervously taps until the elevator arrives on Jules floor. Heading down the hall to her apartment, I knock once before Jules yells for me to come inside.
              I’m greeted by a foul smell permeating through the air when I walk inside her apartment and my stomach turns over. Why is she cooking again? I’ve noticed a trend over the last few months. The happier I become, the more distant Jules appears, her eyes looking more and more hollow as the days pass. She often seems tired, worn out.  Now, the tell-tale signs that something is amiss hangs in the air, a baking monstrosity gone wrong. Jules only bakes when she needs to think and, unfortunately, she has been baking a lot.
              “Jules, where are you?”
              “Ava? What are you doing here?” Her voice is far off, echoing through the hallway that leads to her bedroom.
              “I’m late,”               

*This is a free epilogue to Imperfect Truth. This is not a standalone or a novel.
You must read Imperfect Truth NOW ONLY $0.99 to read this book.


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About the Author

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Ava Harrison is a New Yorker, born and bred.
When she’s not journaling her life, you can find her window shopping, cooking dinner for her family, or curled up on her couch reading a book.
Connect to Ava
Twitter: @avaharrison333
Perfectly Flawed Support Group on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/778471848896125/

COVER REVEAL: Last Call by Staci Hart

EEEEP!!! Look at this cover. LOOK AT IT!! And then join us in our crazy excitement in knowing that release day will be here before we know it!

Last Call Banner Last Call Ebook
Photography by: Perrywinkle Photography
Designed by: Quirky Bird
Release Date: Feb 15, 2016
Goodreads
Synopsis
Once Rose Fisher makes a decision, that’s it. End of story.

 Like when her ex, Patrick, dumped her out of the blue, then showed up with a super hot, tatted up sex kitten on his arm. Then it was over for good. The end. Poof. Dead to her. Except he was everywhere — down the hall, at the bar with their friends, worming his way into her dreams.

 But with their friends paired off, they’re left alone more and more. Rose is determined to keep him friendzoned — doesn’t matter that he stares at her with a smolder that drops all panties in a ten foot radius. She’s over him, and she’ll prove it by getting back into the dating game, Patrick be damned.

 Patrick Evans is no stranger to consequences. When your mother walks out, your dad drifts away. When you leave home, you’re on your own. And when you run away from the girl you love, you lose her. He finally has an opportunity to rebuild the bridge he burned, and it’s not one he’ll take for granted. But he’ll have to fight for her, even if it hurts. Even if it means he’ll walk away brokenhearted. Because deep down, he knows that she’s it for him.

 The trick will be to get her to admit she feels it too.
Last Call Teaser

The Series
WAT
Chaser
About the Author
Staci has been a lot of things up to this point in her life -- a graphic designer, an entrepreneur, a seamstress, a clothing and handbag designer, a waitress. Can't forget that. She's also been a mom; she has three little girls who are sure to grow up to break a number of hearts. She's been a wife; even though she's certainly not the cleanest, or the best cook. She's also super, duper fun at a party, especially if she's been drinking whiskey. Her favorite word starts with f and ends with k.

From roots in Houston, to a seven year stint in Southern California, Staci and her family ended up settling somewhere in between and equally north, in Denver. They are new enough that snow is still magical. When she's not writing, she's sleeping, gaming, or designing graphics.


Last Call Wrap

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NEW: Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros

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New Military Romance!  
Hallowed Ground by Rebecca Yarros is
Now Available!


Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1NeMPn1


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Blurb


There are some debts you can’t repay.


Josh Walker is loyal, reckless, and every girl’s dream. But he only has eyes for December Howard, the girl he's craved since his high school hockey days. Together they have survived grief, the military, distance, and time as they’ve fought for stolen weekends between his post at Ft. Rucker and her college at Vanderbilt. Now that Josh is a medevac pilot and Ember is headed toward graduation, they’re moving on—and in—together.


Ember never wanted the Army life, but loving Josh means accepting whatever the army dictates—even when that means saying goodbye as Josh heads to Afghanistan, a country that nearly killed him once before and that took her father. But filling their last days together with love, passion, and plans for their future doesn’t temper Ember’s fear, and if there’s one thing she’s learned from her father’s death, it’s that there are some obstacles even love can’t conquer.


Flight school is over.
This is war.


EXCERPT
I pushed my chair out and reached for her, lifting her tiny, curved frame into my lap. Her head tucked beneath my chin, and she curled into me, fitting right where she was always meant to be. My arms closed around her. “We have a month.”
“It’s not long enough.” Her fingers gripped my shirt like she could keep me here if she just held on tight enough. God, what I wouldn’t have given to stay with her.
“Forever isn’t long enough for us, December, but that’s what we’re going to have. You and I have never chosen the easy path. This is just another hurdle.” I rubbed my chin over her soft hair and tried to soak in every detail of holding her—the sweet way she smelled, the smooth texture of her skin beneath my hands.
She leaned back in my arms and cupped my face. “I can’t lose you.” Her voice broke, and tears pooled in her eyes.
I’d never hated myself more than I did in that moment. She’d made it through a nightmare no one should have to face, and I was about to ask her to chance that fire again. My breath hitched, barely passing the lump in my throat. “You won’t. It would take something a hell of a lot stronger than a war to keep me from you.”
I sealed that promise with a kiss, tasting her fear and desperation as she responded. She opened underneath me, and I fused my mouth to hers, surrendering to the heat between us to pull us through this moment. There was nothing hotter or sweeter in this world than kissing December, feeling her go soft and pliant.
We’d fought so fucking hard to get here, to be together. This wasn’t fair, and we both knew it. But we also both knew it didn’t matter. Fair wasn’t exactly in the U.S. Army vocabulary.
I retreated just enough to whisper against her lips, “I’ll come home. I swear it.”

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**VIEW THE Hallowed Ground TRAILER HERE: https://vimeo.com/148520997 **


About the Author

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Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and lover of all things chocolate, coffee, and Paleo. In addition to being a mom, military wife, and blogger, she can never choose between Young Adult and New Adult fiction, so she writes both. She's a graduate of Troy University, where she studied European history and English, but still holds out hope for an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Her blog, The Only Girl Among Boys, has been voted the Top Military Mom Blog the last two years, and celebrates the complex issues surrounding the military life she adores.
When she's not writing, she's tying on hockey skates for her kids, or sneaking in some guitar time. She is madly in love with her army-aviator husband of eleven years. They finally can call Colorado home along with their gaggle of rambunctious kiddos and snoring English Bulldog.
Stalk Rebecca here:



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