Audio Tour + Review & Giveaway: Sincerely, Carter by Whitney G.

Posted in 4 hearts, Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews by Lacey

Welcome to today’s stop on the audio tour for Sincerely, Carter by Whitney G.!

Sincerely, Carter by Whitney G.
Series: Standalone
Audio Publication Date: December 1st 2016

Just friends. We’re just friends. No, really. She’s just my best friend….

Arizona Turner has been my best friend since fourth grade, even when we hated each other. We’ve been there for one another through first kisses and first times, and we’ve been each other’s constant when good relationships turned bad. (We even went to colleges that were minutes away from each other.) Throughout the years, and despite what anyone says, we’ve never crossed the line. Never thought about it. Never wanted to…until one night changed everything. At least, it should’ve….

Just friends. We’re just friends. I’m only saying this until I figure out if she’s still just my best friend….

Buy Links:
Audible • Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iTunes

I absolutely adore audiobooks, so when I heard Sincerely, Carter was going to be made into one, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! I liked reading this friends-to-lovers book, and I enjoyed it even more listening to it as an audiobook. If you’re a fan of sweet and sexy friends-to-lovers romances, I highly recommend giving this one a try!

Arizona and Carter have been best friends since fourth grade, even when they hated each other – and they’ve never crossed the friendship line into something more. Everyone they know always questions whether or not they’re actually “just friends,” but Ari and Carter have honestly never thought about each other in THAT way… that is, until they do. One moment, they’re the best of friends, and the next, they can’t stop thinking about the other person, what they’re like naked… in bed. I love that it completely baffles them that they feel an intense attraction towards one another. Lines are crossed and hearts are on the line and they soon come to realize that the best thing that ever happened to them has been standing right in front of them all along.

I really enjoyed the narrators, Jennifer O’Donnell and Joseph Discher, for Ari and Carter. They voiced the sweetness of the story and the witty banter between the characters well, and I’d definitely listen to another of their narrations. The Sincerely, Carter audiobook is all-around a great listen – the story is adorably sweet and the narration was spot-on. It’s a heartwarming, humorous friends-to-lovers romance that fans of the trope are sure to enjoy.

A self diagnosed candy addict, travel junkie, and hypochondriac, Whitney Gracia Williams LOVES to write about characters that make you laugh, cry, and want to (in the case of Claire Gracen) reach through your Kindle and slap them.

She is the New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of Reasonable Doubt,the Mid Life Love Series, the Jilted Bride Series, the My Last Resolution Series, Wasted Love, and Captain of My Soul.

When she’s not locked inside her room, feverishly typing away on her laptop.

Website • Amazon Page • Facebook • Twitter • Pinterest • Google+ • Newsletter

(2) $25 Amazon Gift Cards
Audiobook of Sincerely, Carter
Paperback of Sincerely, Carter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Subscribe to Blog via Email

11Apr2016

Review: The Professional by Kresley Cole

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

The Professional by Kresley Cole
Series: The Game Maker #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: May 6th 2014
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

Meet the Professional.
Mafiya enforcer Aleksandr “The Siberian” Sevastyan’s loyalty to his boss is unwavering, until he meets the boss’s long-lost daughter, a curvy, tantalizing redhead who haunts his mind and heats his blood like no other. Ordered to protect her, Aleksandr will do anything to possess her as well–on his own wicked terms.

He makes the rules.
Grad student Natalie Porter has barely recovered from her first encounter with the dark and breathtaking Siberian when he whisks her away to Russia, thrusting her into a world of extreme wealth and wanton pleasures. Every day under his protection she falls deeper under his masterful spell.

In the game of obsession, two players are better than one.
Yet all is not as it seems. To remove Natalie from an enemy’s reach, Aleksandr spirits her into hiding. From an opulent palace in Russia to the decadent playgrounds of the mega-rich in Paris, the two lovers tempt each other’s boundaries to discover whether their darkest–and most forbidden–fantasies really can come true….

I freaking LOVE Russian mafia books (and the HOT Russian men in them), but I was a bit disappointed with Kresley Cole’s The Professional. This is actually the first book I’ve read by KC, and I’d been so, so, so excited to read it, but it fell a bit short of my expectations. I was expecting to be swept away by the mafia story and a sexy, alpha-male Russian hero, but I wasn’t. I can see why people loved this book, but for me, The Professional was an okay read – it just missed the mark for what I was expecting to get in this book.

Natalie Porter thinks she’s just a regular grad student when she meets the gorgeous and mysterious Aleksandr Sevastyan, until he takes her away from all that she’s known and thrusts her into the dark world of the Russian mafia. Turns out she’s the long-lost daughter of a powerful boss, who has assigned his enforcer the task of bringing her home by any means necessary.

Dangerous, deadly, and powerful, Sevastyan is the loyal and dedicated enforcer of the Russian mafia. But of all the things to knock him off his feet, Natalie is the only person to make him crazed with lust and out of control. The intense and instant attraction between them is unexpected, but this alpha knows what he wants and he’ll do anything to have her.

“If you became mine, I wouldn’t let you go.” His words were clipped, as if he was biting back frenzy. “Understand me, if I’m your first lover—I will be your last.” The ringing tone of finality chilled me. “And I would kill any man who thought to touch what was mine.”

In between the fiery chemistry and hot sex in The Professional, we’re swept away to the mafia world in Russia. There’s action and suspense, and pretty much never a dull moment for Sevastyan and Natalie. So I’m pretty bummed out that I couldn’t love this book more. The premise of it had me in love, but as I kept reading, I just couldn’t really get into the story or the characters, mainly because of the ridiculous amount of kinky sex. This book pretty much made me realize that I’m not the biggest fan of BDSM, so sadly, the sex – while hot – just wasn’t my type of thing. Plus, it felt like Sevastyan used sex to manipulate Natalie, so that was a big no for me.

In all honesty though, I did enjoy the book for the most part. We have an obsessed alpha-male who’ll do anything for his woman, and the chemistry between them was well-written and off the charts. I liked the romance, minus all the crazy sex, and the mafia world was interesting. I just didn’t connect that well with the characters – but if you’re a fan of over-the-top heroes and BDSM, this book might be for you!

“Concerns beyond you no longer matter. You’re at the center of my life”—he frowned—“no, you are my life.”

Reading Order: The Game Maker series

#1 ~ The Professional: Ebook • Paperback • Audible (Part One, Two, Three) • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Master: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ The Player: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Subscribe to Blog via Email

8Apr2016

Review: One with You by Sylvia Day

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

One with You by Sylvia Day
Series: Crossfire #5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: April 5th 2016
Links: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

Gideon Cross. Falling in love with him was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. It happened instantly. Completely. Irrevocably.

Marrying him was a dream come true. Staying married to him is the fight of my life. Love transforms. Ours is both a refuge from the storm and the most violent of tempests. Two damaged souls entwined as one.

We have bared our deepest, ugliest secrets to one another. Gideon is the mirror that reflects all my flaws … and all the beauty I couldn’t see. He has given me everything. Now, I must prove I can be the rock, the shelter for him that he is for me. Together, we could stand against those who work so viciously to come between us.

But our greatest battle may lie within the very vows that give us strength. Committing to love was only the beginning. Fighting for it will either set us free … or break us apart.

Heartbreakingly and seductively poignant, One with You is the breathlessly awaited finale to the Crossfire saga, the searing love story that has captivated millions of readers worldwide.

It’s been a long time coming, but One with You is finally here – and what a wonderful conclusion to the Crossfire series it is!! Eva and Gideon have grown so much, have put so much effort into their relationship, and you can clearly see the culmination of it all in this final novel. I really can’t believe this series is over! It’s one of my top favorite series of all time, and Gideon is one of my top book boyfriends – I’m going to miss everything about the series so much!

I’d built my empire with the past in mind. Now, thanks to her, I would continue to build it for our future.

Eva and Gideon are slowly coming public with their marriage, and the fact that these two are so much more stable and mature than they were when they first met makes everything so much easier. They have a lot of pressure on them from the paparazzi, from their parents, from their jobs, but as long as they have each other, they can handle anything and everything. I absolutely adored how much character growth and development these two have shown throughout the series, how they worked so hard to overcome their struggles together to make their marriage work. Theirs is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love, a soul-deep connection that people only dream of, and the romance in One with You is just as powerful and intense as it was in Bared to You, if not more.

Happiness came in so many forms. Mine was Gideon.
“Miss me,” he ordered.
I blew him a kiss. “Always.”

Gideon is as perfect and sexy as ever. Eva is as awesome and fiery as ever. I love these two so, so much! There’s a lot going on in terms of the plot of this book, but any time it was just Eva and Gideon, I had hearts in my eyes. They can be so flirty and fun yet raw and passionate – Sylvia Day writes these two characters in such a way that they feel so real and genuine. They never once lose that spark that makes their characters shine.

Marriage suddenly didn’t seem like enough to safeguard what she meant to me. Why wasn’t there something more binding than a mere piece of paper that gave me the right to call her my wife? Vows were a promise, but what I needed was a guarantee that every day of my life would have her in it. I wanted my heart to beat in rhythm with hers and stop when hers did. Inextricably entwined, so I would never live even a moment without her.

I loved the way things ended for Gideon and Eva. Do we get the answers to every single question we have about the rest of the characters? No… but I honestly felt pretty okay with that. Yes, I would’ve loved getting Cary’s full story, or even Eva’s father’s story – but I feel like if everything wrapped up picture perfect, it wouldn’t have felt genuine. The Crossfire series is very much about Gideon and Eva, and I can’t complain about how their story ends. It took skill to write such a satisfying conclusion for such a sweeping, all-encompassing romance as Gideva’s, and of course Sylvia Day didn’t disappoint!

Reading Order: Crossfire series

#1 ~ Bared to You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Reflected in You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Entwined with You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Captivated by You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5 ~ One with You: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Subscribe to Blog via Email

7Apr2016

ARC Review: Thrown Down by Tessa Bailey

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Thrown Down by Tessa Bailey
Series: Made in Jersey #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: April 4th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

He has one last chance to deserve the girl of his dreams…

Overachiever River Purcell was never supposed to be a struggling single mom, working double shifts just to make ends meet. Nor was she supposed to be abandoned by her high school sweetheart, breaking her heart into a thousand jagged pieces. Now Vaughn De Matteo is back in town, his sights set on her…and River is in danger of drowning a second time.

No one believed Hook’s resident bad boy was good enough for River. Not even Vaughn himself. But he’ll fight like hell to win back the woman he never stopped loving, to keep the daughter he never expected, and convince himself he’s worth their love in the process––even if he has to rely on their fierce and undeniable sexual chemistry.

But even as River’s body arches under his hungered touch, the demons of the past lurk in the shadows. Waiting for Vaughn to repeat his mistakes one last time…

I’ve said it a million times already, but Tessa Bailey truly never disappoints. She’s one of my favorite authors, so to say I was excited for Thrown Down is an understatement. A second chance romance, written by her? Pure heaven for me. This book is the second in the Made in Jersey series, but can be read completely as a standalone. I adored River and Vaughn and their heartwarming second chance at love. These two, plus their sweet daughter, were perfect together! If you love second chance romances with lots of sweetness and tons of dirty talk *grins*, Thrown Down is a must read!

“I don’t need a hero. I’m my own her now… and I’m trying to be one for Marcy.”

River Purcell has been working her butt off the past few years as a single mom to provide for her and her daughter. She’s tough and hard-working, a heroine I admired. The love of her life, her high school sweetheart, and Marcy’s father, left River without knowing that he got her pregnant. Vaughn dropped off the face of the earth after that, so River had no clue how to get in contact with him. Now, four years later, Vaughn is back – and ready to be the man and father River and Marcy deserve.

Maybe he’d never earn back that pure, perfect trust. But even a sliver of that former belief she’d had in him? Fuck, it would make life worth living. To have that trust from his child, too, would be the stuff of dreams. Dreams he’d never been aware of having. Until now. And after so much time devoid of feeling, that hope was addictive.

Vaughn tore his heart out when he broke things off with River for her own good. He never really believed he was good enough for her – he was the bad boy to her good girl back in high school – but now, he’s desperate to make things right. I was a bit worried about how I’d feel about Vaughn leaving River without looking back, but getting to know him in Thrown Down puts him in a much better perspective. Plus, the fact that he was faithful and loyal to the love of his life every day they were separated certainly helped make me fall in love with him. He’s a tortured, angsty character with a filthy mouth – another Tessa Bailey possessive alpha-male winner!

“So I’m telling you now, I’m not leaving. Give me a chance to meet her, then watch me show up every day afterward, even if you turn me away. I’ll show up and take my beating like a man, day in and day out. But you better get used to me, doll. I’m not budging.”

This book is the perfect balance between raw, angsty emotion and heartwarming goodness. I loved that River made Vaughn work hard to win back her love, and I adored the way he was with his daughter. I really wish there were more scenes with Vaughn and Marcy together – and that it was a longer book overall! I really wasn’t ready to let go of River, Vaughn, and Marcy.

If you love Tessa Bailey, you’ll no doubt enjoy Thrown Down. It has what you’d expect from this wonderful author – fantastic characters to root for, an emotional romance that tugs at your heart, and plenty of dirty talk from our filthy, obsessed hero. Right now, I’m dying for the next book in the Made in Jersey series – I don’t really care who it’s about (I hope it’s Duke) but since it’s Tessa, it’s up high on my wishlist!

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Made in Jersey series

#1 ~ Crashed Out: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#1.5 ~ Rough Rhythm: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Thrown Down: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Worked Up: Goodreads (Aug. 2016)

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Subscribe to Blog via Email

6Apr2016

ARC Review: Remembering Everly by J.L. Berg

Posted in 2.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Remembering Everly by J.L. Berg
Series: Lost & Found #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: April 5th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

After two years in a coma, August Kinkaid has forgotten the darkness in his past. But his past hasn’t forgotten him. His beautiful former fiancée, Everly, remembers every tumultuous moment of their stormy relationship. The sizzling passion. The web of lies. And the terrible secret Everly’s been hiding since her last fateful night with August.

Now the truth is out and August remembers everything. As his long-buried memories come flooding back, he begins to understand why Everly would want to move on with her life. Why she would give her heart to another man. And why August should try to forget her once and for all.

But he can’t give up on the only woman he’s ever loved. Even if he has to reopen old wounds–and face the darkest demons of his past–August will do whatever it takes for a second chance with Everly. He let her slip away once. He’s not about to spend the rest of his life remembering Everly when he could be holding her in his arms forever . . .

After finishing Forgetting August and getting to that awful hangover, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Remembering Everly. August and Everly’s story was so mysterious and intriguing, I had to know more! But I’m pretty disappointed that Remembering Everly didn’t meet up to my expectations. The pacing was way too slow and nothing really happens for the majority of the book. I grew too frustrated with August and even Everly at times… so overall, this book just wasn’t a good reading experience, and I’m pretty bummed out because it had such potential to be an amazing follow-up.

Secrets.
They had the ability to destroy lives, obliterate relationships and sabotage even the strongest partnerships. Big or small… it didn’t matter. Even the tiniest white lie had the power to corrode—to shatter and dismantle everything you loved.

This sequel picks up right where the first left off, with August having remembered the night he fell into a coma and telling Everly he knew her secret. Everly is still engaged to Ryan, and August is still trying to recover his memories. Unfortunately, this goes on for at least half of the book, with no progress being made between Everly and August, and nothing being done in terms of Trent and his money-stealing scheme. I grew tired of this around 30%, so it was incredibly annoying that this stalemate kept going on for such a long time in the book.

August comes off as pretty pathetic. He literally doesn’t DO anything for 70% of the book, and that was just too long for me. August keeps pushing Everly away for her own good, to protect her from Trent, but what I hated about this was that he never actually tells her WHY until he’s got no other choice but to tell her. It was just so pointless and frustrating – I really didn’t see a reason why August had to keep everything a secret.

If you hate the OW/OM sort of conflict, this book and series definitely won’t be for you. Everly is with Ryan, but thankfully realizes that he’s never going to be the one for her when her heart belongs to another. August begins somewhat of a relationship with another woman he meets, which annoyed me to no end. The main characters being with other people put a damper on the love between them, and made me not really believe in it much anymore, sadly.

The only thing that redeemed the book and made me not fully hate it was the writing. I really enjoyed J.L. Berg’s writing for this series – it matched the tone of the story and made everything a little suspenseful and nail-biting. Sadly, there isn’t actually much action in Remembering Everly, so it was sort of anticlimactic for the story to be written this way. I really wished I could have liked this book more, but there were just too many problems with it for me to enjoy it the way I wanted to.

2.5 hearts – 2 hearts for the story and characters and an extra .5 for the wonderful writing.

Love was precious. We knew this more than most, having lost each other more than once over the years. But it remembered.
Love always remembered.

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Lost & Found series

#1 ~ Forgetting August: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Remembering Everly: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

	Unlocking the Magic… on Review: A Promise of Fire by A…
	Lucas Middleton on Blog Tour // Review + Excerpt:…
	Van on Blog Tour + Release Day Review…
	Amber Elise @ Du Liv… on Audiobook Review: The Stand-In…
	daisyknox on Release Day Review: Tryst Six…

Booklovers For Life

Falling in love with romance one page at a time

Category Archives: Reviews

Audio Tour + Review & Giveaway: Sincerely, Carter by Whitney G.

Subscribe to Blog via Email