Monday, December 29, 2014

Where the Road Takes Me by Jay McLean - Cover Reveal




Where the Road Takes Me 
will be released on FEBRUARY 10TH.   

Amazon Pre-order Link: http://amzn.to/1EmjOUS


Blurb

Chloe has one plan for the future, and one plan only: the road. She’s made a promise to herself: don’t let anyone in, and don’t let anyone love her. She’s learned the hard way what happens if she breaks her rules. So she’s focused on being invisible and waiting until she can set out on the road—her dream of freedom, at least for a little while.
Blake Hunter is a basketball star who has it all—everything about him looks perfect to those on the other side of his protective walls. He can’t let anyone see the shattered pieces behind the flawless facade or else all his hopes and dreams will disappear.

One dark night throws Chloe and Blake together, changing everything for Blake. For Chloe, nothing changes: she has the road, and she’s focused on it. But when the so-called perfect boy starts to notice the invisible girl, they discover that sometimes with love, no one knows where the road may lead.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Embraced - The Life of Anna Part 3 by Marissa Honeycutt

Embraced (The Life of Anna #3)Embraced by Marissa Honeycutt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Warning this series is not your mother’s sweet harlequin romance. This series is dark and gritty. It will test you and your ability to handle violence and cruelty at every turn. Some scenes might even make you want to throw up. Anna faces some extreme sexual situations as a sex slave in a subculture within a world we could never imagine. This story is Anna’s life it is all that she knows; some of her thinking may surprise you. What Anna thinks is normal could be shocking to us. Considering the hardships she has endured, she is a strong character that I truly enjoy reading repeatedly. Though this is an unconventional romance, the author promises an HEA at the end in book five, however it will be a long harsh road.
In this, the third book in The Life of Anna series by Marissa Honeycutt we find our heroine Anna once again facing unbelievable cruelty at the hands of Devin. He has achieved his goal of becoming Chairman and all seems to be going as he planned. Until Devin does something, so unforgivable that it pushes Anna to stand up and fight for herself. Alex is still working hard to figure out how to get Anna out of Devin’s clutches for good and back into his waiting loving arms.

Anna is happy for a period then her world is shattered once more and you wonder how much can this poor girl take. She is living a life she never really wanted because she never knew any better. Anna wonders why bother having fun, a life, friends, and lovers who care about her if it Devin will find a way to take it all away from her in an instant. Finally Alex and Anna are reunited and it is so sweet and so loving. My heart soared and flew out of my chest screaming for joy. Alex did it he finally got Anna to understand he loves her, she loves him, and they can work together and be happy. This couple deserved some happiness. However, I knew that happiness would be short lived because this is not a lighthearted romance. This is a tough, raw and dangerous story that will have you crying in happiness and then screaming in terror. It is filled with emotional pain as much as it is physical pain. I loved it, such deep story telling! I cannot say enough about this series; it is one that makes you think. One that makes you want to know more you need to know more, you cannot breathe without knowing what will happen next. Then the author throws you for a loop and puts in a twist that you will not expect. You scream NO! But you can’t stop reading because you’re addicted to Anna’s story.

I love a book that makes me mad at the evil and happy at the joy. To me that is the sign of a great writer when you can draw out such emotion just from words printed on a paper or e-reader.
I hold my breath once again waiting for book four and the continuing saga of the life of Anna.




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CARTEL BY LILI SAINT GERMAIN - Pre-order available



CARTEL BY LILI SAINT GERMAIN

 
Releasing February 1st


Are you ready for Mariana's Story?

Currently Available for Pre-order




Pre-order HERE


Amazon US
Amazon UK





Book Summary

 

The first full length Gypsy Brothers novel from the smash hit author Lili St. Germain.
How much is a life worth?

I grew up in Colombia, the daughter of a wealthy drug lord. I lived a life of extravagance, until one day a drug run went horribly wrong and everything came crashing down around us.

I was given away. A payment for a debt. The Gypsy Brothers Motorcycle Club became my new owners, and I did everything I could to survive.

But falling in love with the man who owned me wasn't part of the plan...

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Promise Me This by Christina Lee Netgalley Arc Review

Promise Me This (Between Breaths, #4)Promise Me This by Christina Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Nate has a reputation on campus for being a love them and leave them kind of guy. He doesn’t kiss, it’s to intimidate, commitment, no way. A quick hook up with never a repeat performance is all the women get from him. It’s not that he doesn’t respect women, it’s that he doesn't trust himself. Nate comes from a violent family life so he fears that he too will be prone to abusive behavior. Nate has a secret he can never reveal urges that he forces himself to suppress. However, one girl makes him want more.

Jessie is a strong, independent girl; she is putting herself through college working at a tattoo parlor. Even though he should stay away, Nate cannot stop himself from wanting to be around Jessie. They keep things strictly in the friend’s zone. It does not take long for Jessie and Nate to admit they want to try it at more than just friends. They are definitely attracted to each other; they can be themselves with each other. Their easy friendship makes it seem so simple. Will Nate’s secrets and his lack of trust in himself stop him from having the life he wants and the girl of his dreams?

Christina Lee is truly a genius at New Adult Romance.
I was in love with Nate from the minute I read his first words; he had me falling for his preppy charm. His demons haunt him as he is trying to find his way in the world. Raised by an abusive father, he is concerned; he will turn out like him. Nate has sexual urges of dominance that he does not want to express fully. He is terrified that they make him as abusive as his father. Therefore, he suppresses his dominant feelings and only lets a little show when he finds a willing one-night stand. However, in his heart and soul, he craves something more, something he thinks he can never have.

Then one day Jessie notices him in a way she never did before after accidentally walking in on him in a compromising position in a bar bathroom. Jessie always thought of Nate as a poor little rich boy. Sure, he was hot, but not really her type. She usually went for the tatted up bad boys. When she walked into the bathroom bar and spotted Nate with a girl pushed up against a sink in a very not so boy next-door kind of way, Jessie saw Nate in a completely new light one she found herself desperate to explore further.

They had been friends lightly flirting and busting on each other. Never did either one of them think the other could be interested. An opportunity, throws them together and they get to each other. I loved how the two characters found more and more out about each other as the book progressed. The first sexual encounter when Nate lets some of his dominance show was hot! Hot! The second sex scene is even steamier; with each experience, Jessie and Nate grow closer and closer. The BDSM experimentation well written and well thought out. A chapter that was my favorite is when they both realize without saying it to each that they were making love and not just having sex, my heart just about melted it was a hot and tender scene all at once. I could not help but root for this couple as I read each page. Nate’s relationship with his dysfunctional family is heart wrenching had me angry for him and then crying for him and his brother. Jessie’s close-knit family in comparison made for a deeper story.


"Promise me this, explore all the different sides of you. We all have darkness and brightness inside of us. You won't know exactly what you're made of until you embrace all of it, feel it, live it. Only then will you be able to face all that life has to offer, head-on."

This statement really expresses exactly what the whole book was about and it truly touched my heart.

I love Christina Lee’s writing, she has become my favorite New Adult writer and I cannot wait to dive into one of her other books. This is the fourth in the series, but the second book in this series I have read; you do not have to read the books in order to follow the stories. Each couple has their own story if you want to know how the background characters got together, you can easily go back and read a book without feeling confused or lost. I was also excited to read the sneak peek of Dakota and Shane’s story characters from Whisper To Me book three in this series cannot wait for that one.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.





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Monday, December 22, 2014

Lili St. Germain - ONE Love Blog Tour



Are you ready for the conclusion to
The Gypsy Brother’s Series?
ONE LOVE IS LIVE! 


One Love (Gypsy Brothers, Book Seven)


 Blurb
*The final book in the #1 iBooks bestselling Gypsy Brothers series*
Will Julz complete her mission for vengeance against the Gypsy Brothers? Or is Dornan still one step ahead?
More shocking secrets will come to light and lives will be lost in this final, devastating installment of the Gypsy Brothers series.

Sneak Peek - Chapter One

By Lili St. Germain


The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.



CHAPTER ONE

“I want my lawyer,” I repeat for the hundredth time.

There are two CIA agents in front of me, and they’re playing a very cheesy rendition of good cop / bad cop.

We’ve been at this for hours. Boss Bitch — Agent Dunn, as she’s since told me — on one side, and her completely dumb but cute male offsider, Agent Brennan, on the other. In my head, to pass the hours, I’ve nicknamed them Agent Bitch and Agent Dumbass. I sit across from them, my hands in my lap, heavy metal cuffs weighing them down.

My throat is dry, my tongue parched. Agent Dumbass has a fresh can of Coke in front of him, and I can see the tiny beads of condensation running down the sides. I want it. I want to reach over and grab the can. I don’t even need to drink what’s inside. I’ll settle for the condensation making its lazy descent down the side of the bright red can and onto the dusty Formica table that separates me from them.

“Let’s try this again,” the female cop says, tucking a loose blonde hair behind her ear. The rest is up in a severe bun that reminds me of a matronly grandmother, even though this woman only looks about thirty. She’s got a slight southern inflection that reminds me of Elliot’s grandma.
I don’t reply, waiting for whatever it is she plans on doing next. Her next big thought, her latest overdone gesture, to try and convince me that I should spill all of my dirty secrets onto this table between us. So far she’s used threats against Jase, a plea deal that would grant me immunity, and long stretches of silence.
None of that will break me. I’ve been tortured by Dornan fucking Ross. This woman’s going to have to try a lot harder, or maybe get out some pliers and start yanking my teeth out of my mouth, before I’ll give her a single damned thing.

She snatches up a manila folder and opens it, handing a photograph to her male offsider. “Stick these up,” she barks at him, and he moves slowly, ripping a section of blue-tack from a large blue ball of the stuff that must live permanently on the wall to my left. I watch, just slightly interested as to what they’re going to try and scare me with.

They don’t disappoint. As I watch them pin 5x7 photographs to the wall, I can’t help but feel some sense of satisfaction for the lives that ended at my hands. I have to remain impassive though, so I tamp down the gloating grin that wants to spread across my face and settle for my resting bitch face instead.
Dunn peeks at me from the corner of her eye, and I return her gaze impassively. She might think she can get under my skin, but I grew up in the Gypsy Brothers MC for shit’s sake. I know how to hold out in front of a cop.
“Chad Ross,” Dunn says, smoothing her pants as she stands up and circles the table, coming to stand next to the photographs her partner is sticking up in a haphazard fashion. I wait for her to reach out and straighten them. Boom. Three seconds later, she does just that, making sure all of the photos line up.
“Chad Ross was poisoned,” she continues, tapping one manicured fingernail against the photo of his bloated death face.
“Looks nasty,” I reply.
“It’s a nasty way to die,” Dunn says, peering at me. “The killer added pure methamphetamine to an energy drink he later consumed. He was probably dead before he hit the ground.”
He wasn’t. He suffered. Thankfully.
“And you’re showing me this why?” I ask, studying my own nails, bitten down to the quick. I never was a girly girl. It’s not easy to keep your nails tidy when you’re constantly trying to claw your way back from death.
Dunn looks at me pointedly before jabbing her fingernail towards the second photo. Ahhh, yes. Maxi in all his naked, bloody glory. His face is a mess from the coke I shoved underneath his nose, the coke laced with strychnine that made blood gush from his nose like warm water from a faucet. I still remember the way his blood felt on my hands. How surreal everything was, bright and garish, as my skull burned with a small amount of the poisoned coke I’d snorted myself.
How I’d nearly died in my quest to kill him.
How it was so worth the risk to see the look on his smarmy fucking face, when I whispered in his ear who I really was and sat back on his lap to watch the fury rise in his cheeks.
As he realized a black widow was the one who’d just fed him his last meal of poison and cocaine.
I glance at Agent Dunn, clearing my throat and attempting to look bored.
“Strychnine-laced cocaine,” she says. “In fact, the same thing you were admitted to hospital for that very night. Jason Ross brought you in to emergency room. They said you almost died.”
“It was a hell of a night,” I reply curtly. “My nose still bleeds just thinking about it.”
She raises her eyebrows in disbelief, and in that moment I have no doubt that she’s cataloguing me as a sociopath or similar.
“Can I ask you a question?” I say suddenly.
“Shoot,” Dunn responds.
I reach my hand out slowly, methodically and take hers, a bold move. She could pepper spray me, shoot me. You’re not supposed to touch the interrogators. But she’s ballsy enough that she doesn’t want to take her hand away, even as I watch her flinch minutely.
“How do you keep your nails so pretty?” I ask sweetly, the saccharine in my voice not reaching the cold death stare I give her. I hold up my other hand. “Mine are hopeless. You spend much time in the field, Agent Dunn?”
She takes her hand away, and I let my own cuffed hands fall back into my lap. I know her skin must be crawling from my touch.
I hope the feeling stays there for a long time. She should not have fucked with me.
“I take good care of myself, Miss Portland,” she says briskly. “Which is more than I can say for you.”
“My child died,” I say blankly. “Physical appearance isn’t on the top of my priority list right now.”
She bristles momentarily. “I am sorry for your loss,” she says finally.
I sit back, crossing my legs. “No, you’re not,” I reply.

She points to the third photograph, which is… hell, I’ve got no idea what that is. I tilt my head, trying to figure out what I’m looking at.
“It’s a leg,” Dunn supplies.
“Ohhh,” I say, nodding. “Thanks.”
It is indeed a leg, or at least part of one. Charred and black, with spots of unmarred flesh and blood still peeking through in sections. Huh. I wonder who it belonged to.
“Two Ross brothers were killed in an explosion. Somebody put homemade bombs in their fuel tanks, can you believe that?”
I shrug. “Sounds like they must have had it coming.”
Dunn points to the final photos, and a cloying heat bleeds up my chest and neck as I remember those three months of horror and torture I endured at Dornan’s hands before I was broken out. The way Dornan’s father Emilio flew backwards with a meaty thump as the top of his head was blown clean off, blood and brains flying everywhere. Mickey’s look of horror that didn’t fade after the bullet entered his face, such a satisfying end for men whose only fault in death was that their ends were much too swift. I imagine how much more satisfying it would have been to hang them by their feet and burn their eyes out with cigarettes and blowtorches, or pull their teeth out with rusty pliers, one by one.
That would have been much more fitting for the men who tried to destroy me, the same men who murdered my father.
Still… they’re dead, and that’s better than them being alive.
“That’s got to give you a headache,” I joke, referring to the last two pictures. The blood and gore have no effect on me. My stomach is made of iron after the atrocities I’ve seen, after all that I’ve endured. If this bitch wants to rattle my cage, she’s going to have to try harder.
“And then we have Jimmy,” she says, sticking one last photograph to the wall. Jimmy’s face, still frozen in shock, the trail of blood from his temple where Jase shot him barely noticeable in the extreme close-up.
“He looks unwell,” I comment. “Thing is, I’m still not sure why you’re showing me all of this.”
Dunn frowns so hard it looks like she’s about to burst a blood vessel.
“Here’s the thing,” she says, throwing a stack of photographs in front of me. “We’ve got you. We have your DNA on the first two victims, and motive. We’ve got probable cause to take you to trial.”
I sift through them, suppressing a twisted smile as I see what happened to Jazz and Ant after they bit the big one when bombs in their motorcycle fuel tanks exploded, ripping them to pieces. It isn’t pretty, what became of them. But to me, it’s beautiful.

I drop the photographs on the table and lean back in the hard metal chair I’ve been sitting on for the past five hours.
“These people are — were — like family to me. Don’t you think it’s a little tacky showing me all of this? I’m still grieving for these boys. They were like brothers to me.”
Agent Dunn actually rolls her eyes at me. At least she’s got some spunk somewhere in there. “Give it a rest, Miss Portland,” she says impatiently. “You’ve got more motive than anyone else, and no alibi for any of these murders.”
“Motive?” I ask sweetly. “And what might that be?”
Agent Dunn hesitates. Go on, I think. Say it. They raped me until they thought I was dead. The murdered my father, and you want to arrest me? Say it.
“I’m not authorized to talk with you about an active investigation,” Dunn says finally. “But I really think you should start talking, Miss Portland.”
I roll my eyes. “Okay,” I say finally. “I give up. You got me. I’ll tell you something. Let me write it down.”
Dunn’s beady eyes practically wig out of her head. She studies me for a moment, probably to see if I’m telling the truth, and I stare right back at her. If she wanted a wallflower who’d stare at the floor, she arrested the wrong girl.
After a beat, she stands up, turns and bustles out of the room. I divert my attention to Agent Dumbass, who looks like he’s about to fall asleep in his chair.
“I’ll make a full confession,” I say, “if you give me that.” I point to the coke can and he eyes it dubiously. After a pause, he slides the can over to me with one finger. With a smile, I pick up the can between my cuffed hands and take a long drink.
The fizzy liquid burns on the way down my throat, but it’s delicious. I drink as much as I can before Agent Bitch returns, setting it back down on the table and smiling at Dumbass. I slide the can back towards him with a wink. Let him think we’re friends. Let him think I’m just a silly young girl who couldn’t possibly hurt anyone. He looks surprised, taking the can back as Agent Bitch walks back into the room.
She looks between me, the can and the goofy look on Agent Dumbass’s face and shakes her head.
Sliding into her seat, she drops a yellow legal pad on the table between us as she addresses Dumbass.
“She killed a man by poisoning his drink with pure meth,” she says to her partner. “You sure you want that back?”
“Allegedly,” I add.
The oaf stares at the can for a few seconds. Finally, he pushes it back in my direction with an embarrassed look.
In the past five hours or so since I was unceremoniously dumped in this interrogation room, I’ve gone through the whole gamut of emotions. Fear. Shock. Despair. Now, I’m at anger. Anger that bubbles within me. Anger that is thinly disguised as apathy to these two morons.
Dunn drops a blue Bic pen on the legal pad and pushes it over to me. I hold up my cuffed wrists helplessly.
“I can’t write with these things on,” I say.
Dunn gives me the filthiest look before nodding at Dumbass. He stands and circles around to me, removing my cuffs before returning to his spot.

I WANT A LAWYER. I write it as obnoxiously large as I can, underlining the word LAWYER three times.

Agent Bitch’s smile disappears, replaced by a thin line of contempt at her mouth. I grin. Good luck getting those cuffs back on me, motherfucker. I sit back in my seat and snatch up the Coke, draining the rest of the can before they think to take it from me.

“We can play this game for however long you want, Miss Portland,” she says curtly, fiddling with the stack of crime scene photographs in front of her. I smile.

“I’ve got all day,” I say sweetly, even though I really, really don’t. Dornan has Elliot’s daughter and ex-girlfriend, and possibly Elliot himself, and Jase and I have twenty-four hours to meet him and get the girls out of danger before he kills them. At least, that’s what I’m assuming he plans to do to them. I can’t even comprehend what else he might be planning to do to those poor girls to get back at us.
Agent Dunn shakes her head one last time, gathering up the files and stalking towards the door. “I’ll give you some time to think about your position,” she says.
“Isn’t this illegal?” I call out to her. “I’m an American citizen. I have the right to an attorney. Get me a goddamn lawyer!”
Really, I just need a lawyer to post bail so I can get the hell out of here. Not that I’m sure I’d actually be bailed out, but I need something, and talking to these two is proving fruitless. A cold panic is building up inside my stomach, in the hollow space where my baby once lived and died.
God, it’s still so raw, so vicious when the memory of our tiny little baby takes hold and squeezes me. Sometimes, selfishly, I wish I could forget about her, because losing her has cursed me with more pain than I could ever imagine.
If I had any remnants of doubt about killing Dornan before? They’re gone, bled from me in the moments after our daughter was born, still and dead, in the early hours of the morning when the world was still dark.
He took her from me. From us. And I cannot rest until he’s dead and buried, a rotting corpse in the cold ground, a memory and nothing more.
Dornan Ross needs to burn for the things he’s done.
Agent Dumbass follows his partner out of the room and pulls the door shut. I immediately stand up and go to the door, testing the handle. Locked from the outside. Of course. I go back to my chair, collecting the pen someone so thoughtfully left for me and shoving it into my pocket. You know, just in case I need to stab somebody sometime soon.
Which, as it turns out, is sooner than I’d anticipated.
About an hour later, Agent Bitch sticks her head back into the room. “Your lawyer’s on the way,” she says, closing the door behind her again.

This could be anyone. A cop posing as a lawyer to get a confession on tape. A hit man, sent by the Gypsy Brothers or the Cartel. I’m like a sitting duck in here, and I don’t like it one tiny bit.
But what greets me isn’t any of those things.
It’s so much worse.
I don’t move an inch as the door swings open and he walks into the room. Dressed in a suit I’ve seen before, clutching a black leather briefcase by his side. He looks positively fucking amused.
“Well,” I say bitterly, “They’ll let any motherfucker take the bar these days, won’t they?”

One Love Trailer




Gypsy Brothers Series by Lili Saint Germain

Seven Sons (Gypsy Brothers, Book One) FREE



Six Brothers (Gypsy Brother, Book Two)



Five Miles (Gypsy Brothers, Book Three)


 Four Score (Gypsy Brothers, Four)



Three Years (Gypsy Brothers, Book Five)




Two Roads (Gypsy Brothers, Book Six)


One Love (Gypsy Brothers, Book Seven)


Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Possess (Shamed #2) by Laura Marie Altom

Possess (Shamed, #2)Possess by Laura Marie Altom

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Liam has asked the girl of his dreams to marry him. Only problem is she is already married to someone else who also happens to be a sadist abuser. Can Liam convince Ella he can protect her from her husband Blaine at all costs? Will Ella risk everything in an effort to save Liam from Blaine’s violence? Can their love help push them through to the bright future they have both dreamed of.
Book two in the Shamed series by Laura Marie Altom is the conclusion of Liam and Ella’s story. When we last left them, they were beginning to be blissfully happy. Ella was starting to believe Liam could move mountains, he would get her a divorce from her crazy husband and they could live happily ever after. Until Blaine steps in and shatters their perfect little fantasy life. I thought this second part was actually much better than the first. I found it to be deeper on an emotional level. The author’s approach to the abuse that Ella suffers in the past as well as the present was spot on. When Ella goes into an institution, I could feel her confusion and desperation to escape. Her relationship with her parents goes to hell by their refusal to believe their own daughter truly tragic. I feel that Liam was a stronger character in this second part; he loved Ella with everything he had and would move heaven and earth to save her. Their friends are back in this book and I enjoyed the relationships they shared with them. Carol and Liam he a real bond as friends and it shows. Garrett uses his law expertise to help Liam and Ella get their happily ever after. At times Ella did annoy me a little as the female lead, she acted a bit naive thinking she could reason with a lunatic. Nevertheless, in the end, I was happy with how it all turned out. This is a great series so far it has romance, steamy sex and a little bit of suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. I look forward to the next one.
Received ARC in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.




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