I really enjoyed Bad Boys Don't Date Clumsy Girls by Ke Strand and will give you more details in my review. You can also check out an excerpt and enter the great giveaway! Follow the tour for even more!
Showing posts with label contemporary romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contemporary romance. Show all posts
Friday, June 3, 2022
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Review of Thorn of Secrets by B. Truly
It's the second installment of this young adult, coming of age romance series. Read on for an excerpt and my thoughts on Thorn of Secrets by B. Truly. Then follow the tour for even more. Best of luck entering the giveaway!
In love with the same face that haunts me….
The falling leaves of autumn are like the deceit in my family lineage. Closing the door on the infinite cold—winter blossoms into the spring of new beginnings. In the next season of my life, I’m mending the pieces back together. Opening myself up, I even begin to date, which is a big step for me.
After graduating from high school, a shocking development causes me to be on alert. When nothing comes of it, I move forward, wanting desperately to put the past behind me.
About to start college, I bump into someone from my complicated past, and my heart is torn. The dilemma I struggle with: Do I let other people’s opinion define who I am? I must decide if I’ll push through the ridicule and pave my own path. Could the face that’s scorned me be the key to my resolve? I’ll never know if I take the easy way out.
I’ve unlocked my darkest secret only to have it return to torment me. As the thorns of his obsession encompass me, I discover I’m part of a twisted ploy. If I don’t figure a way out of this predicament, then the life I’ve known may cease to exist.
Don’t miss the riveting sequel to Madison’s story that will have you dangling on the edge of your seat.
Read an excerpt:
The power of the wind beating against the windows becomes too much—two of them shatter. Glass explodes everywhere. Justin uses his body as a shield, keeping the invading glass from hitting me. Tanya screams bloody murder.
Jackson shouts from down the hall. “Move your asses, people!”
Justin ushers me in that direction quickly. As I move, I notice putting weight on my right foot is painful. It gives out against my will, then I’m hobbling.
Tanya rushes into the half-bath. Justin stops and scoops me up, carrying me the rest of the way, making me feel like a helpless child. It’s more than humiliating. We huddle in the half-bath. The room doesn’t have windows, thank goodness. Since the house doesn’t have a basement, this makes the half-bath the safest spot.
A flashlight propped up on the counter is our only source of light. Jackson’s forehead is wrinkled. Tanya is sitting on the toilet with the lid closed with her arms wrapped around herself. Justin is near me as I crouch in the corner, shivering uncontrollably. The house feels like an earthquake has gotten a hold of it—shaking under the wrath of the cyclone.
My heart is slamming against my ribcage. The sound blends in with the rumbling of the foundation. With the expressions on the others’ faces, I’m not imagining it. The tornado is right on top of us, and I’m certain the house is inside of it. For a couple of seconds, all sound seems to cease. The vroom of the monster is muted.
“Is it gone?” Tanya wonders.
My senses are waving red flags. The cyclone is nowhere near done. It’s only getting started. My intuition is confirmed when the roaring picks up again and, to my disbelief, is even louder. The theory about the eye is wrong. The center of the storm is not peaceful, only a momentary calm before the beast unleashes its full wrath. The wind is so ferocious, it takes everything in me not to cry.
Tanya lets out her fear. “Why is the house shaking? Why is it so loud?”
A moment later, it becomes clear why the house is trembling. It has been defeated and can no longer stay rooted. The roof cracks open. The cracks spread quickly, like worker ants determined to snag a meal, and then the roof rips off completely.
“Ah, hell!” Jackson yells.
Buy on Amazon
(affiliate link)
**My thoughts**
I've been waiting for this sequel to come out, because I needed to know what was going to happen to Madison in the future. And if you haven't read the first book, you are not going to be able to truly appreciate her PTSD and the growth that she goes through.
The book starts out with a massive BANG and becomes something like VC Andrews meets reality TV. As it continues, it mellows out a bit, skimming over some time as Madison learns to cope with her PTSD and tries to get through her senior year of high school while raising her daughter - more of a coming of age YA story. She really comes a long way, but has had an awful lot of trauma. And the secrets and betrayals just keep on multiplying. And even though there are parts where the story seems to slow down a bit, something always ends up happening that picks up the pace again, making it a true roller coaster of a ride. But I couldn't put it down because I had to know what was going to happen, especially with her and Justin and the drama with his brother. I really enjoyed it.
Thank you to the author and Goddess Fish Promotions for the requested review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
B. Truly has wanted to be an author since she was fifteen years old. She is grateful to have accomplished this dream. B. Truly has very vivid dreams and a wild imagination. She likes to read, watch tons of TV shows, and movies. She’s addicted to romance and gets a thrill out of suspense and sci-fi. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romance, sci-fi, dystopian, and paranormal genres.
B. Truly likes to explore conflicted plots of romance with thrilling twists. She also loves creating impossible situations for her characters to grow from and try to overcome.
B. Truly has three wonderful children, and a husband who defines the person that she is today. She works full-time as an Ultrasound technologist in Houston, Texas.
Contact Links:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7276631.B_Truly
https://twitter.com/BrandyTruly
https://www.facebook.com/BTrulysFantasies
https://www.instagram.com/brandytruly/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandy-truly-a917a9b3/
B. Truly will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Monday, November 15, 2021
Summer Storms by Thomas Grant Bruso
Literal storms come crashing into Earl's life while also inspiring emotional storms with family, within himself, and with the boy next door. Read an excerpt from Summer Storms and then follow the tour for more. Best of luck entering the giveaway!
Sixteen-year-old Earl Layman is going stir-crazy. Secluded with the flu inside the four walls of his home and only the escape of his video games to help him through, Earl is struggling to keep his sanity.
That is until he notices the boy next door, seventeen-year-old Rex Chambers, raking leaves in the adjacent yard.
Earl’s summer is about to change. Before another torrential rainstorm hits the small upstate New York town of Betham County, they meet during an awkward cell phone exchange. As they start to connect through occasional texts, Earl and Rex enter the throes of adolescent lust.
In the early stages of forging a lasting connection, their family situations threaten to destroy all they are working for.
Read an excerpt:
Now, on this morning in early May, Earl’s thoughts returned to his past. He stared at the photos wedged beneath the glossy plastic sheets of film in the photo album.
He took a breath as he turned through pages of smiling faces—his family members in various pictures. He smiled back, deep in thought, tears falling and blotting the top of the album.
A rattling of glass bottles jarred his concentration, pulling him out of his momentary trance. He set the photo album on his bed and went to the window, gazing out into another sweltering day. Though gray clouds buckled beneath a darkening May sky that promised another rainstorm, the air was thick like clam chowder.
He was at home, sick from school for the third day this week, if his fever didn’t break. Earl had been bedridden with nowhere to go. He checked his cell phone for messages—from anybody. He missed human contact from his class friends, especially his best friend, Andy Gelman.
Traffic hummed along on the main artery of Betham County, a street over, and Earl caught a glimpse of a woman walking her dog. A young bicyclist pedaled to class. And the boy next door, Rex Chambers, on whom Earl had a small crush, bagged recycling for weekly pickup. Rex looked up at him, waved, and smiled. “Mornin’.” He placed the recycling bin by the side of the street and ambled to the fence separating the yards.
Earl’s face flushed; his skin tingled. Maybe it was the flu, or he was just feeling embarrassed. Shy. Staring at the cute guy who rode his mother’s motorcycle to school every morning this year made Earl light-headed.
“Cat got your tongue?” Rex yelled up from the neighboring yard, pulling the motorcycle away from where it was leaning against the fence and reaching for the helmet hanging on the handlebars. “You need a ride to school?”
“I…um…”
Rex tossed the black Darth Vader–like helmet back and forth in his hands like a basketball. His dark hair was slicked with a generous amount of gel, and his angelic eyes and chiseled face set the cogwheels in Earl’s rusty thoughts in motion. “I haven’t seen you around this week. Where’ve you been?” Rex asked.
Earl grinned back at the tall, handsome boy. Was Rex keeping track of how many days I’ve been out of school? “I’m sick.”
“Another day, then?”
Earl nodded, lifted a hand to wave. “See you around.”
“If you need anything, let me know.”
Earl bit down on his bottom lip. He couldn’t believe the boy next door had talked to him; he did not know Rex well. They didn’t talk every day, and when they passed each other in the hallway at Betham County High, Earl was too nervous to speak to him or engage him in conversation. He’d smile at the gorgeous guy, but it was a brief moment in his long day. A fleeting exchange of waves or grins, and both young men went their separate ways. The only class Earl and Rex shared was study hall. But by ninth period, Rex usually ditched the boring forty-five-minute class to take off on his motorcycle and ride around town.
“Feel better!” Rex yelled up to him. He put the helmet on, swung his leg over the cycle and started the engine. “I’m off! Another boring day at Betham County High.”
Buy links
(affiliate link)
About the author:
Thomas Grant Bruso knew at an early age he wanted to be a writer. He has been a voracious reader of genre fiction since he was a kid.
His literary inspirations are Jim Grimsley, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Karin Fossum, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Connolly.
Bruso loves animals, book-reading, writing fiction, prefers Sudoku to crossword puzzles.
In another life, he was a freelance writer and wrote for magazines and newspapers. In college, he was a winner of the Hermon H. Doh Sonnet Competition. Now, he writes book reviews for his hometown newspaper, The Press-Republican.
He lives in upstate New York.
https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Grant-Bruso/e/B00OGMHLW8
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8591689.Thomas_Grant_Bruso
https://www.instagram.com/thomasgrantbrusoauthor/
https://twitter.com/thomgrantbruso
Thomas Grant Bruso will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Seventeen Butterflies by Anna Katmore
Seventeen Butterflies by Anna Katmore is finally here! Enjoy an excerpt from this contemporary young adult book and then follow the tour for even more. Be sure to leave questions and comments along the way. And best of luck entering the giveaway!
The embarrassment of being the only “un-kissed” girl in senior high is something Sandy Cardington refuses to accept. The first kiss project is her foolproof plan to finally get rid of the status at her birthday party while her parents are out of town.
With several kissable boys on her guest list, this should be a walk in the park. But she didn’t reckon on her older brother returning from college days before her 17th birthday, putting a spoke in her plans. To make matters even more complicated, he has a friend in tow, and the cute hockey player stirs unexpected butterflies in her stomach every time their paths cross.
While Sandy moves heaven and earth to make her party and project come true, she doesn't know that Thane Griffyn is making his own plans to teach her the real meaning of a first kiss.
Read an excerpt:
“Since when are you in charge of dressing rules in this house?” I fling back at my brother, stemming my hands to my hips.
“Since Mom asked me to come home and keep an eye on you.” His voice takes on a much sharper edge. “Now change into one of your decent dresses or the party’s off.”
My eyes find Thane’s, and I know I’ve lost this battle because his stunned glare on me scratches on cold rage. “Sorry, Sandra,” he growls as he screws the cap back on the water bottle, “but this time your brother’s right.” Totally startling me, he skirts the counter, grabs my hand—none too gently this time—and drags me out of the room.
“Where are you taking me?” I protest when there’s no chance to withstand his pull.
“Upstairs to find you more suitable clothes for tonight. You want to get kissed, not laid.”
Why the hell is he so angry? He’s the last one to get a say in my life. And still, here I am, being hauled into my room by him and wincing as he slams my door shut, cutting us off from the rest of the house. I spin around in front of my bed and cross my arms rebelliously over my chest.
“And now what?” I spit.
“Now you take those boots off.”
A cynical laugh escapes me. “My boots are none of your business.”
As Thane takes one stride closer, the air suddenly cools with his intense scowl. Two feet away from me, he folds his arms, mirroring my stance, and arches one eyebrow. “Either you take them off, or I will. You have one second.”
Jesus Christ!
Buy on Amazon
(Affiliate link)
When I got older, I’ve had many visions of a perfect career, while writing has always been more of a hobby and kind of a therapy for me when the longing for more magic in this world once again caught up with me in a crushing way. When my first book was finished, I couldn’t even imagine sharing one of my stories with others, ever. In fact, I only got used to the idea while I wrote my second book and learned in a very miraculous way where the many stories in this world really come from.
It’s funny how, at that point, everyone told me I can’t possibly make a living with writing. They even warned me not to quit my job. But after my debut novella PLAY WITH ME came out and sales skyrocketed within the first week, I knew I could do anything I wanted if only I never stopped dreaming.
That’s also part of what I teach my students in writing and spiritual workshops today. Always dream big! If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.
Some personal stuff:
“I’m writing stories because I can’t breathe without.”
Disney is my attitude to life, and if I could I’d save the world from itself. My Patronus is a wolf, my wand the broken twig of an apple tree, 13 ¾ inches with a unicorn hair core. I can’t deny that on some days, I prefer my book characters over real people, but there’s not a single day going by where I wouldn’t try to find magic in reality. And when I’m alone, I love to listen to the many stories of the wind in a mystic mid-summer night.
So you see, I’m lucky enough to live in an enchanting world of my own. It’s peaceful there and full of magical things, fairies and wonders. You’re welcome to follow me there – if you’re ready to open up your mind and leave everything you learned about reality behind. But beware, if you dare to step through this door, you may never want to leave again…
Website:
www.annakatmore.com
Facebook:
German: www.facebook.com/annakatmore
English (brand new) www.facebook.com/annakatmorebooks
Anna Katmore will be awarding her entire GROVER BEACH PLAYERS series as ebooks, or alternatively any of her own novels in ebook format the winner likes, to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Review of Wallflower by Cookie O'Gorman
Welcome to the Book Tour!
Today I'm sharing with you an excerpt from and my thoughts on this YA romance that totally captured my heart:
Wallflower
by: Cookie O'Gorman
Read an interview with the author over at Candrel's Crafts, Cooks, and Characters!
Wallflower
by: Cookie O'Gorman
YA Romance
by: Cookie O'Gorman
YA Romance
Release Date: March 25, 2021
Summary:
Wallflower (wohl-flou-erh): Identifier for someone who is shy and/or awkward. For reference, see Viola Kent.
Seventeen-year-old Viola Kent likes being invisible. Well, not literally, but she's content being a loner, reading her books, and hanging out with the animals at the shelter. She just wants to keep her head down and get through her senior year at Durham High.
Driving Dare Frost to school every day wasn't part of the plan.
And when Viola finds out her dad recruited Dare, his number one player, to be her friend?
Her inner Slytherin demands revenge.
The solution: Get Dare to be her fake boyfriend.
Convincing the star athlete to pretend is easier than she'd thought it would be. The hard part is protecting her heart. With every word, touch, and kiss, Viola's feelings become more real.
The problem: Viola knows she's falling for Dare—but he doesn't believe in love.
This book features two sets of soulmates, one happy pooch named Hermione, so many sizzling kisses and answers the question:
Can a dork and a jock fake their way to true love?
Excerpt:
"Come on, Dare. Show me your moves. Or did you run out already?"
Dare walked toward me until the top of my thighs hit the couch cushion. "I've got a ton of moves, flower. We haven't even tried half of them."
I blinked. "Really?"
He nodded. "I'm just trying to ease you into this, make sure you're comfortable. I don't want to move too fast."
Please, do, I thought.
The words that came out of my mouth were, "I'll believe it when I see it."
It had sounded good, quippy and totally aloof in my head.
But Dare took it as a challenge.
"I'm going to enjoy this," Dare said.
Before I could respond, he gripped the backs of my legs and lifted slightly, making me gasp and throw my arms about his neck. In the next instant, I was balanced on the couch back, my legs on either side of his hips as he took a step forward. There hadn't been that much space between us to begin with. So, the next thing I knew his body was mere inches away from mine.
My cheeks flamed, and he drank in my reaction.
Buy Link:
(affiliate link)
**My thoughts**
Viola is precisely what you would expect a wallflower to be. She is attractive enough, but not one to necessarily turn heads upon entering a room. She's smart without being too much of a Hermione. Speaking of which, she's totally into Harry Potter and all kids of other suck books. She can get along with people well enough if she has to, but doesn't go out of her way to do so. She doesn't feel like she needs a lot of friends, instead preferring to spend her time with the animals at the shelter where she volunteers. And deep down, she's a big romantic. She's totally someone I would be friends with.
Her father was a star athlete when he was in high school and is now the coach of the high school soccer team. They're total opposites, but are also completely devoted to each other.
Enter Dare. His name alone tells you a lot about him. He's the star of the soccer team. He's smoking hot and charismatic, which pretty much helps him get away with more than he should. But there is a softer side that is buried within that slowly surfaces as we get to know him.
Viola's father sets up this unlikely friendship by asking Viola to give Dare a ride to school every morning. The kids have chemistry from the start, in spite of Viola's protests to the contrary. And when she vows revenge on her father by pretending to date Dare, the sparks absolutely fly off of the pages.
It's definitely not your typical high school kind of a romance, but it's a fun one to watch unfold. And the characters felt very real to me. I felt like I could envision each character as someone from my own high school class. In fact, Dare's doppelganger quickly jumped into my head from the first meeting, and I almost messaged my old friend to tell him I had found him in a book.
I always love watching strong girls come into their own and having the cocky boys realize and acknowledge their vulnerabilities. It's a reminder that people are often deeper than that persona you usually see put on at the first meeting.
I really enjoyed this story and found out at the end that Viola's parents have their own story as well. So now I have purchased Adorkable and will be reading and reviewing that soon!
Giveaway!
$25 Amazon Gift Card
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Cookie O'Gorman writes
YA & NA romance to give readers a taste of happily-ever-after. Small towns,
quirky characters, and the awkward yet beautiful moments in life make up her
books. Cookie also has a soft spot for nerds and ninjas. Her novels ADORKABLE,
NINJA GIRL, The Unbelievable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About EthanWilder, The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad and WALLFLOWER are out now! She is also the author of NA sports romance, The
Best Mistake.
Author
Social Media Links:
Author Website: http://cookieogorman.com/
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cookie-OGorman/e/B01DCDMJ5U
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14924267.Cookie_O_Gorman
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/cookieogorman
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/cookieogorman/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/CookieOwrites
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cookie-o-gorman
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Review of In the Penalty Box by Lynn Rush & Kelly Anne Blount
Welcome to the blog tour for In the Penalty Box by Lynn Rush and Kelly Anne Blount! I loved this book and am sharing my thoughts with you today. Be sure to check out the rest of the tour, too, for interviews, more reviews, and more!
The Cutting Edge meets Friday Night Lights in a sizzling new hockey romance from bestselling authors Kelly Anne Blount and Lynn Rush!
In the Penalty Box
by Lynn Rush and Kelly Anne Blount
Genre: YA Contemporary
Release Date: January 5, 2021
Entangled Teen!
Summary:
Willow
Figure skating was supposed to be my whole world. But one unlucky injury and now I’m down...but I’m definitely not out. I just need to rehab—a boatload of rehab—and who’d have thought I could do it on the boys’ hockey team?
Of course, the infuriatingly hot captain of the team seems to think I’m nothing but sequins and twirls. What’s a girl to do but put him in his place? Game on.
Brodie
Hockey is my whole world. I’ve worked my tail off getting my team in a position to win the championships—hopefully in front of major college scouts, too—so what’s a guy to do when a figure skater ends up as our new goalie?
Of course, the distractingly sexy skater thinks I’m nothing but a testosterone-laced competitive streak. And surely she’s only biding her time to heal, then she’s gone. Game over.
Buy Links:
Universal Buy Link * Amazon * B&N * iTunes * Kobo * Indigo * Google Play * Thalia * bol.de * Angus & Robertson * Mondadori
(Affiliate link included)
**My thoughts**
I picked up on The Cutting Edge reference right out of the gate. But this story is even better than that one. Granted, it's partially because this story is more modern, with the movie being almost 20 years old. But Willow is also much more tolerable than Kate. Yes, she is a figure skater, but she isn't a prima donna. She is coming off of a devastating injury that cost her a spot on her Olympic team.
Brodie may be the star hockey player, but life has not been super kind to him. His mother was killed in an accident by a drunk driver. His father, unable to cope, has become an absent alcoholic. And now Brodie is also serving as a surrogate father to his kid brother. But he wants to go pro and follow in his family's footsteps.
So the two of them have had a lot of trauma in their young lives. Perhaps that is part of why they seems so much older than seniors in high school. Between their traumas and dreams, they have lost a good chunk of their innocent childhoods.
So Willow ends up joining Brodie's hockey team and becomes one of the greatest goalies they have ever had. Willow and Brodie, who are essentially training together, of course fall for each other, but have to keep their romance a secret.
They complement each other well, able to be supportive of each other through the difficult times, but also able to push each other to do their very best. It isn't easy, but their determination just may make it work.
I loved that this book put a girl on a boys hockey team. It's empowering to read about a strong girl who isn't necessarily following the traditional gender roles. This provides a chance to demonstrate some of the gender bias that persists in our society.
These two also show how to follow your dreams without needing to trample everyone else along the way. Plus they show how persistence pays off. And while it is typical for teens to be somewhat self-centered, these two show how you have to look beyond just yourself to really be successful at life.
If you like sports romances, I think that this is a good one to add to your list. If you're not as into hockey and figure skating, you may not enjoy this as much because there is a lot of technical focus as part of the story. For me, it worked and I loved it. I may have even learned a little.
I've enjoyed what I have read from each of these authors individually in the past. I liked this collaboration and hope they consider more in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a requested review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
About the Authors:
When she’s not running or writing, she’s watching movies that fuel her everlasting love of superheroes, vampires, and all things Supernatural. The books she reads usually carry the same theme, but this former college athlete loves reading sweet sports romances as well.
She’s madly in love with her Ironman husband of 20+ years who is the inspiration for what true love is. You can find her on social media as @LynnRushWrites and her website is: www.lynnrush.com
Website:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LynnRushWrites
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/lynnrush
Two of her Wattpad works, including Captured (seventeen-million reads), have been optioned for film by Komixx Entertainment, and she is regularly invited to present seminars about social media at author events.
Stop by any of Kelly’s social-media platforms (@KellyAnneBlount) and stay tuned to this website for announcements and information about upcoming releases and events.
Kelly Anne Blount is represented by Jennifer Wills (jennifer@theseymouragency.com) and Nicole Resciniti (nicole@theseymouragency.com) of The Seymour Agency.
Website: http://www.KellyAnneBlount.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KellyAnneBlount
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/kellyanneblount
Blog Tour Schedule
January 18
Living in a Bookworld Promo
What Does the Fox Say Review
Ruei's Reading Corner Review
January 19
Clea_Reads Promo
January 20
CathrineGoldstein Promo
Westveil Publishing Promo
Library of a Book Witch Review
January 21
Lilly's Book World Review
My Tangled Skeins Promo
Chapters Through Life Review
Hawthorn Book Reviews Review
January 22
Confessions of a YA Reader Promo
Lala’s Book Reviews Review
January 25
Becky on Books Review
Read Your Writes Book Reviews Promo
Amy's MM Romance Reviews Review
January 26
Pine Enshrined Reviews Promo
Lisa Loves Literature Review
Andi's Young Adult Books Review
Amy's (Mostly) MM Romance Reviews Review
January 27
TheObsessed Reader Author Interview
411 on Books, Authors, & Publishing News Author Interview
The Avid Reader Promo
January 28
Stars Books and Tea Promo
Teatime and Books Promo
January 29
Sascha Darlington's Microcosm Explored Review
The Eclectic Review Review
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