Release Day Review: The Deal by Elle Kennedy

The Deal by Elle Kennedy

The Deal by Elle Kennedy
Series: Off-Campus #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: February 24th 2015
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy…

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

…and it’s going to be oh so good.

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

I am so IN LOOOOVE with this book!!!! Seriously, I don’t know how some authors do it – I so do NOT relate to sports and athletes, and yet I keep falling in love with these sports romances, with these athlete heroes! Gah, this book. The Deal was perfection – it had me smiling and giggling so hard, my heart was just bursting from reading this book. It’s a pure, feel-good, heartwarming read that I think everyone will enjoy!

Hannah Wells has a crush. Buuut, that crush never seems to notice her. Enter Garrett Graham. He’s the star hockey player at their college, but he may no longer be able to play unless he improves his GPA. Lucky for him that Hannah is acing the class he’s failing in. So Garrett proposes a deal – if Hannah agrees to tutor Garrett, he’ll go out with her to improve her social status and make her crush, Justin, jealous.

Hannah shoots down this deal, hard. And what ensues is a hilarious, heartwarming game where Garrett tries to persuade Hannah to give their deal a chance. Garrett is annoying, in that cute, adorable way, as he is unrelenting in making Hannah cave. After some funny texts (and maybe some naughty ones), and getting to know each other better, Hannah finally agrees to their deal – but neither Hannah nor Garrett expected to find something more, something beautiful, deep, and profound with each other.

I never expected her. Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don’t know how you ever lived without them. How you went about your day and hung out with your friends and fucked other people without having this one important person in your life.

From the get-go, I adored Hannah and Garrett. The Deal is told in dual POV, and both Hannah and Garrett are hilarious! They’re so easy to relate to, even though they’re vastly different characters. Hannah is shy and likes to keep to herself, while Garrett is the outgoing, sexy manwhore everybody loves. Both have their own painful pasts, which add more depth to their characters. I loved the way Hannah never let her past bring her down, and how she makes Garrett see the same. I loved them, I truly did.

Living well and being happy is how we get over the shit in our past.

The thing about this book is that even though these characters appear formulaic and nothing new on the surface, Elle Kennedy brings them to life, putting a spark in both Hannah and Garrett that made them shine to me. On the outside, they’re typical new adult main characters, but when you read this book, you see the gems in their characters through their thoughts, words, and actions. The blurb makes The Deal sound like any other typical new adult book, but it’s not. It’s well-written with exceptional characters who will grow in your heart. I was wholeheartedly charmed by this book – I loved it!

5 hearts
lacey

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


Reading Order: Off-Campus series

The Deal by Elle Kennedy The Mistake by Elle Kennedy The Score by Elle Kennedy

#1 ~ The Deal: EbookPaperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Mistake: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ The Score: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads


FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
FACEBOOKTWITTERGOODREADSPINTERESTBLOGLOVIN’

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Blog Tour + Excerpt & Giveaway: Slow Burn by K. Bromberg

Slow Burn tour banner

Happy Release Day to K. Bromberg! Slow Burn is now available!

Slow Burn by K. Bromberg

Slow Burn by K. Bromberg
Series: Driven #5 (full reading order below)
Release Date: February 24th 2015
Add to Goodreads

One night. That’s all it was supposed to be . . .

Reeling from the sudden loss of her sister, Haddie Montgomery has sworn off relationships. All she wanted from Beckett Daniels was a sexy distraction to help her escape her pain for just a little while….There weren’t supposed to be any strings attached—so why can’t she shake the memory of that unforgettable night from her thoughts? Or the taste of his kiss from her lips?

No matter how hard Haddie tries to forget about him, Becks relentlessly tries to prove that she should start living for today. But she is determined to avoid romantic commitment, and she can always use her ex-boyfriend’s reappearance to help snuff out the slow burn within her that Becks has sparked….

Or will fate force her to realize that this kind of connection doesn’t come along very often and a chance at love is worth the risk?

Buy Links:
Amazon • Amazon UKB&N • iTunes • Kobo

Now here’s an excerpt from Slow Burn! ❤

excerpt

“Yeah. That’s one way to put it. Is there something else you called for besides trying to stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong?”

I open my mouth and then shut it, unsure how calling him because I just needed to hear his voice has devolved so quickly into this. Into me scrambling for words I can’t find to fix shit that doesn’t need fixing.

Because I don’t want this. Don’t want him.

“Well then, if you want to actually talk instead of pull this ridiculous bullshit, I’m here for you…but Had…? Whatever this is here…this passive aggressive crap? I don’t do too well with that. We had our one night. You made it quite clear you didn’t want anything more than that so you don’t get to call me up and question what I might or might not be doing with anybody else. You want no strings? Then cut the ties…but frankly I don’t think you know what the fuck you want so until you figure your shit out, I think it’s best that we say good night before we make a bad situation even worse.”

“Wait!” Desperation rings in my voice in the single word. And I hate myself for sounding like this but I’m so lonely, so scared and just want the comfort I know he can bring me right now.

I wait for the sound of the dial tone to assault my ears. Wait for the incessant beep that reaffirms why I have barbed wire wrapped around my heart – painful but necessary. But there is nothing for a few moments until I hear the phone scrape against the stubble on his face.

And I wait…my throat burning with the tears I want to shed but am so sick of. The ones that no longer bring me comfort.

“I’m here, Haddie. I’m not going anywhere, okay?” The timbre of his voice carries his concern and sympathy to me through the line.

The incoherent sound I make is all I can offer in thank you to him for not hanging up on me. For not giving up on me.

Reading Order: Driven series

Driven by K. Bromberg Fueled by K. Bromberg Crashed by K. Bromberg
Raced by K. Bromberg Slow Burn by K. Bromberg Sweet Ache by K. Bromberg

#1 ~ Driven: EbookPaperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Fueled: EbookPaperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Crashed: EbookPaperbackGoodreads
#4 ~ Raced: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#5 ~ Slow Burn: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#6 ~ Sweet Ache: EbookPaperbackGoodreads (June 2, 2015)
#7 ~ Hard Beat: EbookPaperbackGoodreads (Nov. 3, 2015)

about the author

K. Bromberg

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author K. Bromberg is that reserved woman sitting in the corner who has you all fooled about the wild child inside of her—the one she lets out every time her fingertips touch the computer keyboard.

lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. When she needs a break from the daily chaos of her life, you can most likely find her on the treadmill or with Kindle in hand, devouring the pages of a good, saucy book.

On a whim, K. Bromberg decided to try her hand at this writing thing. Her debut novels, Driven, Fueled, and Crashed of The Driven Trilogy were well received and went on to become multi-platform bestsellers as well as landing on the New York Times and USA Today lists. Her other works include a short story, UnRaveled, and a companion piece to The Driven Trilogy titled Raced. She is currently working on three stand alone Driven novels, Slow Burn, Sweet Ache, and Hard Beat. She also plans to release a novel addressing the 10 year gap at the ending of Crashed in late fall 2015.

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Pinterest • Amazon

giveaway

$500 AMAZON GIFT CARD

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Early Review: Soulbound by Kristen Callihan

Soulbound by Kristen Callihan
Series: Darkest London #6 (full reading order below)
Release Date: February 24th 2015
Purchase: Ebook • Paperback
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Once two souls are joined . . .
When Adam’s soul mate rejected him, there was more at stake than his heart. After seven hundred years of searching, his true match would have ended the curse that keeps his spirit in chains. But beautiful, stubborn Eliza May fled-and now Adam is doomed to an eternity of anguish, his only hope for salvation gone . . .

Their hearts will beat together forever
No matter how devilishly irresistible Adam was, Eliza couldn’t stand the thought of relinquishing her freedom forever. So she escaped. But she soon discovers she is being hunted-by someone far more dangerous. The only man who can help is the one man she vowed never to see again. Now Adam’s kindness is an unexpected refuge, and Eliza finds that some vows are made to be broken . . .

Oh how I adored Adam and Eliza. I was highly anticipating their story after having read Evernight –everything about these two characters was just so intriguing! Adam, the seven-hundred-year-old “father” of the GIMs, has found his soul mate, the one person in the world who can end his curse. But Eliza, this fierce, stubborn woman, is not about to be chained to him or anyone else, so she rejects and escapes from Adam, essentially dooming him to his curse.

I love the Darkest London series – it’s well-written and fleshed-out, and it’s so easy to get sucked into the world and the characters. Soulbound is the sixth book in the series, and Kristen Callihan has yet to let me down. Soulbound is a fast-paced, intense, sensual book that fans of the series do not want to miss! This book will make you laugh, fall in love with the characters, and tug at your heartstrings. I enjoyed it so much!

Though Eliza and Adam are soul mates, they don’t exactly LIKE each other (not at first, anyway). But they do NEED each other. Adam needs Eliza to end his curse, and Eliza needs Adam to protect her from her dangerous fae relatives. So together they manage a deal – Adam will help protect Eliza in exchange for three weeks in which Adam has the opportunity to make Eliza fall in love with him and therefore end his curse.

I LOVE witty, tough heroines, and Eliza is definitely one. I adored her sarcasm, but what I really admired was the strength within her. Her freedom is the most important thing to her and she’ll do anything to keep it. She doesn’t believe she and Adam are soul mates and doesn’t want to be chained to him again, but what if falling for him isn’t being chained at all?

Adam stole my heart in this book. He’s all male and sensuality, but he has vulnerabilities that made him all the more endearing. He’ll do anything to make Eliza fall for him, and it doesn’t hurt that there’s an intense chemistry already between them.

“Trust, Eliza?”
She nodded, and he took a step closer. Beneath thick, straight brows his gaze burned. “In truth, I want you so badly, the mere thought of you is a hand around my cock.”

Hot!!!

“Whether you believe in soul mates or not, I think of you as my other half. The better half. And I am not whole unless I am with you.”

And sweet!!! Adam says the sweetest, most romantic things. Be still, my heart!

I’m such a fan of the way Kristen Callihan writes, because she balances the romance and action in Soulbound so well (though I wish there was a bit more romance at the end, because I’m a romantic sap). It’s not my favorite of the series (that’s a toss-up between Shadowdance and Evernight), but it’s still a highly entertaining read that had me hooked from start to finish. If you’ve been looking forward to Adam and Eliza’s book, you won’t be disappointed.

4 hearts
lacey

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

Reading Order: Darkest London series

  
  
  

#0.5 ~ Ember: EbookGoodreads
#1 ~ Firelight: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Moonglow: Ebook • PaperbackAudible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Winterblaze: EbookPaperbackAudible • Goodreads
#3.5 ~ Entwined: EbookGoodreads
#4 ~ Shadowdance: EbookPaperbackAudible • Goodreads
#5 ~ Evernight: EbookPaperbackAudible • Goodreads
#6 ~ Soulbound: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#7 ~ Forevermore: My Review • EbookPaperbackAudible • Goodreads


FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
FACEBOOKTWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADSPINTERESTBLOGLOVIN’

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Release Day Review: By Any Other Name by J.M. Darhower

By Any Other Name by J.M. Darhower

By Any Other Name by J.M. Darhower
Series: Forbidden #1
Publication Date: February 23rd 2015
Purchase: Ebook • Paperback
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

A deadly rivalry.
Two families at war.
Nobody is safe, not even the innocent.
Especially the innocent.
Blood will be spilled.

Genevieve “Genna” Galante knows a thing or two about causing trouble. After all, it’s engrained in her DNA. As the only daughter of Primo Galante, notorious boss of the Galante crime family, her life is dictated by a certain set of rules… rules Genna was never very good at following.

Matteo “Matty” Barsanti never wanted anything to do with the family business, but as the first-born Barsanti son, certain things are expected of him. It’s his duty, according to his father, to help take down the enemy… even if that enemy means something to him.

A chance encounter on an elevator changes the course of lives, causing the biggest trouble of Genna’s young life. The only good Barsanti is a dead Barsanti. She’s heard it said time and time again. So what happens when she falls in love with one of them?

The story of star-crossed lovers caught in the middle of the biggest rivalry New York has ever seen, determined to make it… if only they can survive their parents’ feud.

It seems that every time I finish a book by J.M. Darhower, all I can feel or say is OH MY GOOOODDD!!! J.M. Darhower is one of the few authors I trust to give me a well-written, fleshed-out, and addictive mafia story, and she has yet to let me down. Her newest one, By Any Other Name, definitely lived up to my expectations. I freaking loved this book! If you haven’t read a mafia story based on Romeo and Juliet, you haven’t lived yet.

A deadly rivalry.
Two families at war.
Nobody is safe, not even the innocent.
Especially the innocent.
Blood will be spilled.

Seriously, I was nearly salivating at the thought of reading a mafia story with a forbidden love like Romeo and Juliet’s. Two rival mafia families whose children fall in love with each other? YES PLEASE!!

“The Prodigal Son and the Ice Princess, huh? Sounds like a terrible fairy tale. You know, the kind where the big bad wolf eats everybody at the end.”

The Barsantis and the Galantes are enemies. What used to be a friendship turned into a bloodthirsty rival, with too many deaths and murders between them for the two families to ever reconcile. Genna Galante’s older brother was killed by the Barsantis, so she grew up fearing and hating the Barsantis. I was very impressed by how the author was able to portray the hatred as a real, powerful thing between the families. It’s a frustrating kind of hatred that the families brought upon themselves, but, like the star-crossed main characters, I held onto the hope that the rivalry could end. But what exactly would it take to end their feud?

When Genna Galante and Matty Barsanti meet, they don’t know who they are to each other, so instead of hating each other on sight, they’re instantly attracted to one another. I didn’t connect with them very well in the beginning – they fell for each other too quickly for my taste, but I was able to forgive that as I kept reading. Their romance felt more genuine later on in the book, and my heart was aching for them once their identities were revealed. They were too deeply into each other at that point, so the only thing they could do was keep their relationship a secret.

He was a Barsanti…
…but maybe the Barsantis weren’t the enemy.

Oh, how I adored Genna and Matty. Once I got over the rough start with them, I was rooting for these star-crossed lovers to get their happy ever after. But every time it seemed like their relationship could work, their families got involved and tried to force them apart. I adored the tender way Matty and Genna were together – they make the sweetest couple ever, and it’s so obvious that these two are meant for each other. But how will they ever make their families see the same?

By Any Other Name was an unputdownable, heart-pounding read that had my on the edge of my seat! The suspense builds and builds, and this was one of the few books where I was terrified for the main characters. Genna and Matty’s love is caught in the middle of a dangerous feud, but theirs is a love that won’t go down without a fight. I grew attached to the main characters, as well as the secondary characters. The writing is impeccable and the story is seriously addicting. This is another thrilling, dangerous, romantic novel from J.M. Darhower! I cannot WAIT for the sequel!

4.5 hearts
lacey

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

Release Day Launch + Excerpt & Giveaway: A Stone in the Sea by A.L. Jackson

A Stone in the Sea Banner

Happy Release Day to A.L. Jackson! A Stone in the Sea is LIVE!

A Stone in the Sea by A.L. Jackson

A Stone in the Sea by A.L. Jackson
Series: Bleeding Stars #1
Release Date: February 23rd 2015
Add to Goodreads

He wanted nothing at all…

Until he found she had everything to give… 

Sunder lead singer and guitarist Sebastian Stone has everything—fans, fame, and fortune. He also has a heart full of bitterness and a reputation for a short-fused temper. But an outward reputation rarely reveals the true man inside. Facing assault charges after trying to protect his younger brother, Sebastian is sent to Savannah, Georgia to lie low until the dust settles in L.A.

Shea Bentley is beautiful, kind, and hiding from the very lifestyle Sebastian has always embraced.

When the mysterious, tattooed stranger begins hanging out at the bar where she works, Shea is quick to recognize he is nothing but trouble, but she’s helpless to the way her body lights up every time his intense gray eyes tangle with hers.

They both soon find themselves drowning in a sea of desire and passion that won’t let them up for air.

Sebastian knows firsthand secrets never die, and he’s not the only one who’s hiding them.

Loving someone always comes with a price. But will it be Shea’s past that costs them everything?

Buy Links:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes

excerpt

With a smile, I turned around, then froze when my sight registered the obscured figure leaning against the wall. A strangled gasp caught in my throat, and my heart took off at a sprint, blood pounding hard in my ears.

Pushing from the wall, he stepped from the shadows, his hands again stuffed deep in his pockets.

My heart rate only increased, the energy radiating from him almost as strong as the disappointment he’d left me with when he’d gone.

I pressed my hand to my chest to try to still the panic thundering against my ribs. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry.” The words were soft. “That’s the last thing I want to do.”

But he did. I was scared of what he was capable of doing to me, the way I knew he held the power to trounce all over this hammering heart, to hold it in his hand and crush it into a million unrecognizable pieces.

“What are you doing here?” I asked on a shaky breath.

He looked to the sky and exhaled heavily, before he leveled his gaze back on me. “The same thing I’m doing every night, Shea. Thinking about you and wondering why the hell I can’t stop.”

My stomach flipped, and I gulped for air.

“What do you want from me?”

He laughed, lifted his elbows out to his sides in a helpless gesture without pulling his hands free. “Dinner?”

Nonsensical laughter shot from me. “At three in the morning?”

“Breakfast?” he amended, a coy smile pulling at his full, crooked lips.

Tingles spread across my skin, and I ran my hands up my bare arms. “I already told you I don’t have time for distractions.”

“Come on, Shea. It’s just food. Go out with me. Just tonight.”

Somehow I knew it was a lie, even though he wanted to believe it was true.

Nervously, I glanced to the back door all the while being inexplicably drawn to this man I didn’t even know. I knew I should make a break for it, run for the safety of my little world and give him no opportunity to rip it apart.

“I am hungry,” I found myself saying. After a long night of work, it was true. But it had nothing to do with the reason I was giving in.

Because I just wanted to…

I shook my head.

That was it. I just wanted. I wanted to be in his space. I wanted to understand why he had this pull on me. I wanted him.

Even though I’d never allow myself to have him.

about the author

A.L. JacksonA.L. Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of Take This Regret and Lost to You, as well as other contemporary romance titles, including If Forever Comes, Pulled and When We Collide, as well as the New Adult Romance Come To Me Quietly due out January 7, 2014.

She first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college student. She filled the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life.

Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three children. Her favorite pastime is spending time with the ones she loves.

To stay up to date with important news on A.L. Jackson, including new releases, sales, and exclusive specials and excerpts, text “jackson” to 96000 to subscribe!

Newsletter • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon Page • Website • Tsu

giveaway

Four $25.00 Amazon Gift Cards
A.L. Jackson Signed Paperback Collection

a Rafflecopter giveaway