REVIEW: Snowed In by Navessa Allen

OUR REVIEW:

Snowed In is the first novel I've read by Navessa Allen and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so that I was up way past my bedtime 'one more chapter-ing' it until my eyes wouldn't stay open any longer.  And then I ignored all other aspects of my life to continue reading until I finished.

There were many things I enjoyed about the romance of Ella and Ben. One of those was how many times I laughed so hard I shook the bed and almost woke up my husband. Navessa Allen's comedic timing was perfect and I just laughed and laughed and laughed. Another thing I enjoyed was how thoughtful Ella and Ben were. They were smart and emotionally self-aware which made what they would eventually have to face so much easier. We'll touch on that in a minute. Let me first say that I really enjoyed how Allen wrote their beginning. She really captured that new friend/relationship feeling of excitement and wanting to spend every spare second getting to know each other. It reminded me of the early stages of meeting my spouse and how fun that time was.

In addition to all of those positives, I really enjoyed the inclusion of Ella and Ben's families; their inclusion just added so much--humor, history, emotional support--and helped round out the narrative. This was especially important when it came to the big climax moment and all of the events surrounding it.

It's always interesting to read a novel that is so completely opposite of any season Louisiana has ever seen. Maine's snowy weather was something I don't even think I have the capacity or background to truly understand but I enjoyed reading it, especially as we're getting warmer and warmer here. I loved that I not only learned about many aspects of how one lives through a season like that but I also learned so much more when it came to the situation Ben was grappling with. Snowed In gave me many things to ponder and enjoy and if you're looking to escape this crazy pandemic limbo we're living in, I highly recommend this novel to escape into.

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SYNOPSIS:

Ella Jones knows what to expect from the long, hard winters in the northern reaches of Maine. Mostly boredom and monotony, broken up with a bit of skiing or quality time spent with her family.

Which leaves her utterly unprepared for the arrival of Benjamin Kakoa, an ex-football star turned advocate in need of a break from fame and notoriety.

For Ella, it's crush at first sight. But with a rocky past and an uncertain future, Ben's walls are tougher to tear down than she ever could have imagined.

And once they fall, Ella and Ben will have to come to terms with the potentially tragic reality of their love.

REVIEW: Lilac by B.B. Reid

 OUR REVIEW:

 Lilac was an opportunity to try a new to me subgenre of romance, reverse harem, and a new to us author, B.B. Reid, and of course, we couldn't pass it up. 

I'm going to confess that I thought that a reverse harem romance would be this free for all, raunchy,  wham bam thank you ma'am sexstastic reading experience and I'm absolutely certain that there are those version of a reverse harems out there but Lilac isn't one of them. This novel delves into the life and experiences of Bound--primarily Braxton, but to some extent all of the band members (Houston, Loren, and Rich) all get chapters and opportunities to get into our heads--an established band who has to take on a new member  (Braxton) that they didn't even get to pick.  I was immediately intrigued--I love a good rock star romance but throw in the additions of some conflict that leads to romance...with all of them in the mix?! I was all in. 

As I was saying, this novel didn't fit the preconceived notions I had. This isn't some quick sexfest without much of a plot, except to get to the next sexy interlude (which honestly, is probably the wrong way to think of reverse harems...it's just my pure ignorance and something I intend to read and learn more about so I don't come off as some romance reading snob). Lilac is a lengthy novel with all the conflict you'd imagine when you have three stubborn rock stars with their newest mouthy guitar player. So much fun, right? Right. And really, some of my favorite parts of this novel was the banter between all four of these characters, and most especially that Braxton knew how to get under their skin and did it so well. Lilac is also very much character driven, too. All of these characters have their own issues and as it progresses you learn more and more about what secrets they've been keeping and the things that have driven them apart and kept them together. 

And of course, Lilac is a love story. It's complicated, as you can imagine, and it's not an instant love at all. Instant lust? Yeaaaaah. Sexual tension. OH YEAH. A fun build up to the sexy times? Yep! But before that could happen B.B. Reid made sure it made sense for these characters to be together and really took the time to create the emotions and chemistry that would make it believable and fun.

All in all, Lilac was a solid read, if a bit long. I enjoyed trying a new subgenre of romance and a new to me author and I'm looking forward into reading more of both.

One world tour. Three rock gods. Their gutsy new guitarist who talks back. Rules are Bound to be broken.

Lilac by B.B. Reid is now live!

From bestselling author B.B. Reid comes an unconventional romance and complete standalone.

I, Braxton Fawn, am the luckiest girl alive.
Or so the world keeps telling me.
Every so often, gods walk the earth. This time they came as musicians. When Bound loses its lead guitarist, yours truly is chosen to fill his shoes. From dive bars to the big stage, my instant claim to fame is nothing short of a fairytale. The only problem?
My new bandmates.
Jaded, gorgeous, and ridiculously talented--they're determined to turn my dream into a nightmare. It's no secret I wasn't their first choice. I wasn't even their last. The label wants a new image, Bound wants me gone, but I've got my own agenda.
To succeed I have to survive a world tour, public scrutiny, and idols turned enemies. But the biggest threat of all isn't a meticulous frontman, a narcissistic bassist, and a drummer with too many secrets.
It's me.
Somehow, I must resist the temptation of Houston Morrow, Loren James, and Jericho Noble.
It seemed easy enough when I boarded their tour bus, but it only took one city for the lines we'd drawn to blur.
Only sixty-two more to go.

***
LILAC is a contemporary rockstar romance, reverse harem, and complete standalone.

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

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Amazon Worldwide: mybook.to/Lilac

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/GR--Lilac

Excerpt

“Be my girlfriend, Braxton Fawn.”

My head knew what to say. My heart was in my throat. I knew it was coming, and somehow, I was still unprepared. I wanted to say yes. I felt it on my tongue, overwhelmed by green apples. All I had to do was shut my mind away, and I’d be his. There was only one problem.

He was asking too much.

I couldn’t pretend his friends weren’t chasing me too.

I wanted them all equally, but I craved them for different reasons. Houston challenged me, Loren worshiped me, and Rich made me feel like I was worthy of redemption.

I didn’t want to give that up.

This tour would end, but the wreckage they will have left of my heart would be permanent. There was only one way I could survive. One way no one got hurt, and…it was impossible. Almost as hopeless as choosing.

Meet B.B. Reid

B.B. Reid is the author of several novels including the hit enemies-to-lovers, Fear Me. She grew up the only daughter and middle child in a small town in North Carolina. After graduating with a Bachelors in Finance, she started her career at an investment research firm while continuing to serve in the National Guard. She currently resides in Charlotte with her moody cat and enjoys collecting Chuck Taylors and binge-eating chocolate.

Connect with B.B. Reid

Website: www.bbreid.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9815997.B_B_Reid

Amazon: https://geni.us/bbreid

Facebook: http://bit.ly/FB-BBREID

Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/Reiderville

Instagram: http://bit.ly/IG_BBREID

Twitter: http://bit.ly/TWBBREID

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/bookbubbbreid

Book+Main: http://bit.ly/BMB-BBREID

REIDER to 474747

REVIEW: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

OUR REVIEW:

This novel got wayyyyy under my skin. It was one of those rare reads that when you finish it you find yourself sitting very still, quietly staring off into space as you try to absorb everything you just read. It's the type of novel that makes you dive into the writer's backlist and when you investigate and there aren't yet 20 kajillion books to read you're disappointed because all you want is more of that reader's high that you had when you put down In Five Years. It's a novel that you feel like you saw "it" coming and even if you did, you weren't quite prepared for how the emotions of it all completely mowed you down. It's a novel that has a really maddening main character --one you find kinda annoying and kinda endearing all at the same time (you hate that you get her, but you totally get her and hope to somehow avoid some of the pitfalls she fell into). It's a novel that may make you snotty cry or maybe just get that one single tear--but the relief of that release and the ending of the novel all just work.

It's a novel that hangs over you a full day after you've read it, keeping you a fog--head full of everything and nothing. It's a novel that I'll definitely put on my shelf ...a novel that I'm already talking up to anyone I think will listen.

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SYNOPSIS: 

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers.

She is nothing like her lifelong best friend—the wild, whimsical, believes-in-fate Bella. Her meticulous planning seems to have paid off after she nails the most important job interview of her career and accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in one fell swoop, falling asleep completely content.

But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. Dannie spends one hour exactly five years in the future before she wakes again in her own home on the brink of midnight—but it is one hour she cannot shake. In Five Years is an unforgettable love story, but it is not the one you’re expecting.

REVIEW: The F List by Alessandra Torre

OUR REVIEW:

The F List is what I think the community used to call a "clean" romance--no sexy times in this novel--that will easily grab your attention and hold it for a full day at the beach, pool, or cozied up on the couch.

This novel gives us a deep dive into #influencer culture and fame. It follows the story of Emma and Cash, two pseudo-celebrities, famous because of how their images play out on social media, and how they go from meeting once at a party to being enemies to falling in love. It's an interesting contemplation on perception versus reality and how much goes into the personas who are famous for ...nothing, really. And if you take a minute to think about it--what dumdums we are for falling prey to the marketing tactics of social media. Neither Emma or Cash are particularly bad or good; they're really just normal people who were hungry for love and attention and used that hunger to launch "personalities" that would make them famous and therefore loved and beloved.

While the target audience for this novel might be a smidge younger than I am, I found it enjoyable. I was entertained during the initial reading and reflective after I put the novel down. It's one of the things I really have enjoyed about Alessandra Torre's novels: at first, you're being entertained and then the commentary she's presenting to us about our society, culture, ideas presents itself through subtle nudges and interactions and before you know it you're thinking about #influencer culture and what that really means.

Fun, thoughtful, quick read.

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Synopsis: 

Two of the world's most famous people can't stand - or stay away from - each other. 
Take a poor girl - me.
Give her a million dollars and a chance to reinvent herself and you end up with her - Emma Blanton. A quasi-celebrity chasing fame, fortune, and one freakishly pathetic crush on Cash Michell.

Take a rich guy - him.
Give him the perfect life plus heartbreakingly good looks and you have him - Cash Mitchell. A social media stud who has been my arch-nemesis since the first time I made the tabloids.

The entire world knew of our rivalry and had taken sides.

Thank God none of them knew our secrets.

REVIEW: Transcend and Epoch by Jewel E Ann

OUR REVIEW:

Normally I would make separate posts for these paired novels but I don't think I'll be able to do it without blending the two novels together. Also I should note that this review may contain SPOILERS so read at your own risk. 

I remember when this duet hit the scene a couple of years ago because everyone I trust as a reader was losing their minds over these novels. I don't remember specifics but I do remember a lot of intense emoji and meme action happening in their social media posts and obviously this memory held some weight because when I had the opportunity to get both books for under 2 bucks, I leapt at the chance and then dived right in. 

Y'all. 

Y'ALL. The readers of twitter were not lying. This duet had me alllll up in my feelings. I was bugging Courtney about it. I was texting reader friends asking if they had read it. I just needed to emote and purge. 

So what was it about these two novels?

Well, first I think it was the idea that Swayze had these memories of someone she didn't really know and there was no logical explanation for why she was having them. It was a trip to imagine all three of the characters trying to navigate what the hell was going on in her head. Poor Swayze had zero control over the fact that she was having these memories that weren't hers, Nate was reliving a very painful part of his young adulthood and trying like hell to not freak out about it, and Griffin, poor Griffin, was just trying to keep up with all of it in a way that was healthy. Let's face it, there was nothing healthy about what was happening--it was a messy mess--which was exactly why it was so intriguing. 

Would Griffin and Swayze stay together?
Would Nate and Swayze get together?
Who did I want her to be with?

I was so torn. Some chapters I was rooting for Griffin, others, Nate, and always Swayze. And that's what I really appreciated about Jewel E Ann's narrative. In less capable hands I probably would've walked away from this duet with some really sore feelings about at least one of the characters, but I didn't here. I was a smidge sad but really quite happy with how things turned out. (Especially seeing there will be a companion novel coming out in June 2020). 

I also appreciated how well she creeped me out with Doug. Gah. That psychopath really had me on edge and I kept waiting for him to pop up and terrorize us all. 

Ultimately, reincarnation, serial killer, and possible love triangle aside, I loved the romance. The stories of Griffin and Swayze and Nate and Daisy were sweet and sexy and well done. The angsty bits were just right--enough to make me nervous but not ever too over the top. 

This duet was exactly the absorbing distraction I needed and I'm so excited that the companion novel is coming out in days. I'm also excited that I have a new author to explore and a list of titles to add to my TBR list.

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SYNOPSIS:

Transcend:

“In another life, she was my forever.”

An unexpected tragedy leaves Professor Nathaniel Hunt a widower alone with a newborn baby.

He hires a nanny. She’s young, but well-qualified, with a simple life, a crazy name obsession, and a boyfriend she met at the grocery store.

Over time, he discovers she knows things about him—things that happened before she was born—like a hidden scar on his head, his favorite pizza, and how he cheated on a high school Spanish test.

She speaks familiar words and shares haunting memories that take him back to over two decades earlier when he lost his best friend in a tragic accident.

“I’m afraid of what’s going to happen when you realize I’m not her.”

Transcend is a sexy, mind-bending journey that uncovers possibilities, challenges beliefs, and begets the age-old question: is there life after death?

Epoch:

After a horrific incident, Swayze finds herself trapped between two lives. Patchy memories and fear for her own safety thrust her into a gut-wrenching journey to uncover the truth.

Will she let her dreams slip away to seek retribution and find the missing pieces to a puzzle that existed a lifetime ago?

“I’m not going to watch you self-destruct. I’m not going to watch you fall in love with another man.”

Or will she discover the only truth that matters?

Epoch pushes the boundaries of what we believe and what we know. It redefines fate and proves that the only thing separating the heart and the soul is an infinite timeline.

“I think a part of you will be mine to love in every life.”