Blog Tour + ARC Review & Giveaway: Awaken by Nina Lane

Posted in 5 hearts, Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews by

Awaken Banner
Click the banner to follow the tour!

Awaken by Nina Lane

Title: Awaken
Series: Spiral of Bliss #3 (full reading order below)
Author: Nina Lane
Genre: Contemporary Romance 18+
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Cover Design: Victoria Colotta of VMC Art & Design
Event Organized By: Literati Author Services, Inc.
Add to Goodreads

“I love that you love me, professor.”

“I love loving you, beauty.”

Since their intense, passionate beginning, Professor Dean West and his wife Olivia have fought dark secrets and betrayal in order to save their marriage. Now reeling in the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Liv and Dean are driven further apart by a vindictive threat to Dean’s career.

Struggling to stand on her own for the first time in years, Liv is determined to defend her husband and prove herself. Then an unexpected letter dredges up old insecurities and endangers Liv’s newfound independence. As Dean fights for his professional life, he is forced to confront his worst fear when he discovers that he can’t protect his beloved wife from her own painful past.

Buy Links:
Amazon US • Barnes & Noble • Kobo • iTunes

review

“You and me, professor.”
“You and me, beauty.”

Oh. My. Goodness. I don’t even know how to describe my love for this series! It’s beautiful, phenomenal–Nina Lane perfectly portrays Liv and Dean’s emotions, the strong, unwavering love they have for one another, as well as the heartbreak that the two of them go through. These two characters… oh my. Dean and Liv sucked me into their story from the very first page of the very first book, and they continue to have me hooked up until the very last page of this last book.

Awaken picks up where Allure left off, and Dean and Liv are separated physically, but never emotionally. The two of them have gone through such heartbreak and tragedy, and I never doubted for a second that they wouldn’t patch up their marriage, their heart-stopping romance. There’s just something so beautiful and special about Dean and Liv’s romance. You can feel the intensity of the love they have for one another, the support that they have for each other. This series is not the usual romance, because the main characters are already married, but that doesn’t make their romance any less beautiful to read. If anything, I’d say that their marriage heightens the love, passion, intensity between them. God, I just really, really love this series.

Liv makes me smile so much. She’s sweet (and so adorable sometimes), and yet she’s strong, stubborn, and fierce in regards to her husband. I loved how she has so much room still to grow, and she does. I felt so proud of her, and Dean too. In Awaken, Liv and Dean learn to stand on their own. They learn to overcome their struggles, never once losing their steadfast love for one another. And oh my god, have I mentioned how much I love Dean? I truly, whole-heartedly love this sexy professor. He makes me swoon so freaking hard.

My husband doesn’t just love me. He knows how to love me. He knows what I need and when I need it, sometimes even better than I do. He knows how to unfold all the tight, rough parts of me and smooth them out with one glide of his hand. He knows how to prove that he — and only he — understands every crevice of my soul. He knows how to remind me that I am forever safe within his heart.

I love love love the romance. The passion, the beauty of it, I can’t even begin to describe. I just love it so damn much. Liv and Dean have a perfectly imperfect romance, which is just all the more remarkable after all the pain, hurt, and heartbreak they experience. It’s not an easy road towards a happily ever after for these two, but the journey getting there is stunning to read.

And I am just in awe with Nina Lane’s writing! It’s beautiful, it’s lush, and it’s exquisite to read. Her writing really makes me fall in love with the story over and over again, because I’d read these sentences, or even these paragraphs, that are just filled with emotion. It’s breathtaking, really. So if anything, I recommend reading this series for the writing. BUT it’s not just the writing that makes this series incredible! Dean and Liv West have a captivating and beautiful romance that warmed my heart, that made me smile and giggle and sigh, that made me fall in love, and I just can’t recommend this series enough. But now that the series is finished… I’m going to miss Dean and Liv so, so much.

Love the one who proves to you that happily ever after is only the beginning.

5 hearts
lacey

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

Awaken Teaser

Reading Order: Spiral of Bliss series

Arouse by Nina Lane Allure by Nina Lane Awaken by Nina Lane

#1 ~ Arouse: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Allure: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Awaken: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

about the author

Nina LaneUSA Today bestselling author Nina Lane writes hot, sexy romances and spicy erotica. Originally from California, she loves traveling and thinks St. Petersburg, Russia is a city everyone should visit at least once. Nina also spent many years in graduate school studying art history and library sciences.

Although she would go back for another degree if she could because she’s that much of a bookworm, she now lives the happy life of a full-time writer. Nina’s novel The Erotic Dark hit #1 on Amazon’s Erotica Bestseller list.

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Pinterest

giveaway

Grand Prize: Personalized paperback set of The Spiral of Bliss Trilogy, keychain and Alice in Wonderland Teapot w/matching cups
2nd Prize: Personalized paperback set of The Spiral of Bliss Trilogy, keychain and Hand-stampled necklace
3rd Prize: Personalized paperback copy of Awaken

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal + Giveaway: Then There Was You by Melanie Dawn

Posted in Cover Reveals, Giveaways by

Then There Was You by Melanie Dawn

Title: Then There Was You 
(So Much It Hurts Series Book Two)
Author: Melanie Dawn
Cover Artist: B Design
Cover Photographers: Positively Posh Photography
Hosted by: The Book Avenue
Add to Goodreads

Chris King never saw it coming…

In some ways, closing the book on my first love was the worst day of life. I was gutted, and yet I was completely at peace with my decision. I walked away knowing that I did what was best for her, unsure if I could ever recover. Little did I know that one concert would change the entire course of my life. There I stood, signing autographs and snapping pictures with fans when a familiar face in the crowd catapulted my mind back in time—Salem Honeycutt, once a balm to my pain and a calm in my storm. Yet again, her smiling face gave me hope. Only one question remained: did she still see me as a wayward teenage boy who was completely off limits, or could she see the man I’d become…focused and driven, yearning for another chance at love?

For Salem Honeycutt, postpartum bliss seemed like a lie…

No one told me that I’d hate my baby when I brought her home from the hospital. No one told me that I’d want to put a pillow over my husband’s head and smother him in his sleep. No one told me that I’d want to slap every person who gave me the ever-so-cliché advice to ‘cherish every moment.’ No one told me that I’d despise my life the minute I became a mother, but I did. Then I met Chris King, the kid who made me want to pull myself up from the dark recesses of my mind and face each day. This kid, whose passion for life and talent for music, touched my soul deeper than I could ever touch his. Chris gave me a reason to live. I was once affectionately known as Mrs. H., Chris’s juvenile detention counselor. This is our story.

about the author

Melanie Dawn is a thinker, a dreamer, and a hopeless romantic. When her head isn’t in the clouds, she spends her time as a jack of all trades to her family. Melanie resides in the hills of North Carolina with her husband, her three children, and her cat. She enjoys lazy summer afternoons cruising around the lake on the pontoon boat with her family.

Melanie graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in Psychology and earned her MA in School Counseling from Appalachian State University. She spent the first six years after graduate school as a middle school counselor. Those were years she deems as some of the best years of her life. That is, until she had children of her own. The last seven years have been spent as a stay-at-home mom. She has learned some tough life lessons, like what the inner absorbent pellets of a diaper look like scattered in the washing machine. She has also learned the strength of the willpower of a two year old lacking a nap. Through it all, Melanie has learned how to roll with the punches and appreciate the time she has been able to spend at home with her children.

Now that her last child has started Kindergarten, Melanie is ready to add a new chapter in her life. That chapter begins with her debut novel—So Much It Hurts.

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

giveaway

–SIGNED paperback of So Much It Hurts

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Day Launch + Excerpt & Giveaway: One to Keep by Tia Louise

Posted in Giveaways, Spotlight by

One to Keep RDL

One to Keep by Tia Louise

One to Keep by Tia Louise
Release Date: January 16th 2013
Add to Goodreads

WARNING: Mature themes, strong language and sexual content. Recommended for adult readers (18+) only!

There’s a new guy in town…

“Patrick Knight, single, retired Guard-turned private investigator. I was a closer. A deal maker. I looked clients in the eye and told them I’d get their shit done. And I did…”

Patrick doesn’t do “nice.”

At least, not anymore.

After his fiancée cheats, he follows up with a one-night stand and a disastrous office hook-up. His business partner (Derek Alexander) sends him to the desert to get his head straight—and clean up the mess.

While there, Patrick meets Elaine, and blistering sparks fly, but she’s not looking for any guy. Or a long-distance relationship.

Patrick’s ready to do anything to keep her, but just when it seems he’s changed her mind, the skeletons from his past life start coming back.

(Standalone, M/F, HEA)

One to Keep Buy Links:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | ARe

One to Hold 99 sale cover

★★★ ONE TO KEEP 99 CENT SALE-EBRATION!!! ★★★
➜ ONE TO KEEP (Patrick & Elaine) is LIVE!
➜ Get ONE TO HOLD (Melissa & Derek) for ONLY 99 CENTS TODAY!

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | ARe

**Paperbacks on:
CreateSpace | Amazon

Excerpt

She didn’t push me away or tell me no as I kissed her again with more urgency this time. She turned, and I kissed her cheek.

“I’m too weak when it comes to you,” she murmured as I traced the line of her jaw with my lips. “I should be stronger.”

My kisses moved to her temple and into her hairline. She was so beautiful, and I had her again. “You’re incredibly strong,” I murmured. “You held me off for three weeks when everything in me wanted to come here and take you back.”

I could feel her breathing pick up as I kissed her, and the tension below my waist grew tighter. My mouth returned to hers, and it opened quickly, tongues uniting, her fingers now threading in my hair.

Her lips were so sweet, but I moved my kisses to her chin, dropping down to her neck, and unfastening the buttons on her shirt, kissing every spot of delicate skin that was revealed as it came apart…

One to Keep Teaser 1

about the author

Tia Louise is a former journalist, world-traveler, and collector of beautiful men (who inspire all of her stories… wink)—turned wife, mommy, and novelist.

She lives in the center of the U.S.A. with her lovely family and one grumpy cat. There, she dreams up stories she hopes are engaging, hot, and sexy, and that cause readers rethink common public locations…

It’s possible she has a slight truffle addiction.

Books by Tia Louise:
One to Hold (Derek & Melissa), 2013
One to Keep (Patrick & Elaine), 2014

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads  | Instagram | Tumblr

giveaway

Basket of goodies with (2) signed copies of OTH

a Rafflecopter giveaway

InkSlinger PR Blogger Button

Blog Tour + Excerpt & Giveaway: Thou Shalt Not by J.J. Rossum

Posted in Blog Tours, Giveaways by

Thou Shalt Not tour banner

Thou Shalt Not by J.J. Rossum

Thou Shalt Not by J.J. Rossum
Release Date: December 9th 2013
Add to Goodreads

Luke Harper was finally starting to settle into his life – a life that had previously been full of more heartbreak and pain than most people ever experienced. He had a job he loved, and was blissfully content in his on-again, off-again relationship with the striking, and highly sexual, Holly. But, life throws Luke another curveball with the arrival of the alluring April, a woman stuck in a tumultuous, violent marriage to a famous athlete. Luke soon finds himself torn between what is safe, familiar, and right, and what is dangerous, unknown, and forbidden.

Buy Links
Amazon • Barnes and Noble • Smashwords

excerpt

“My fingers are sticky,” she said, holding them up near my face.

“Well, if you weren’t such a messy eater you wouldn’t have that problem.”

She laughed as I grabbed her hand and put her fingers in my mouth. I tasted blackberry.

“That just really turned me on,” she said.

She jumped to her feet and started backing away from me.

“Where are you going?” I asked, still sitting on the sand.

“Away from you!” she laughed. “My mom always warned me about men who randomly sucked on your body parts.”

“What did she say about them?” I asked.

“That they’d get you pregnant and ruin your life.”

“Let’s test that theory.”

I jumped up quickly, and she let out a startled scream. If someone had been watching from a distance, they probably would have thought something awful was going down.

She took off running down the beach, her long legs propelling her smoothly through the sand. My initial impression of her having probably been an avid lifelong runner were being proven true.

Thankfully, I was taller and had spent years running for baseball training. I began to make ground on her.

She glanced behind herself as she ran and let out another startled scream when she realized I was much closer than she expected me to be.  She tried turning on the jets, but I was still gaining on her. I reached my arms out and grabbed hold of her shoulders.

“Help” she yelled to no one in particular.

We were both breathing heavily, and when she turned around to face me I pushed her down onto the sand.

I knelt down between her legs and put a hand on each one.

“These things sure do move quickly.”

“That’s not all they do.”

She leaned up and grabbed the neck of my shirt, pulling me down toward her.

I hadn’t kissed a girl on the beach like this since I was in high school. There was something sexy about it: laying in the sand, waves crashing at the shore, not a soul in sight.

We rolled around in the sand for a while, kissing, touching, breathing heavily. A couple of people even walked by, but we took no notice.

Finally, we stopped after I rolled her onto her back and sand fell off of my arms and onto her face.

She playfully made spitting noises trying to get the sand out of her mouth, acting like she was drowning under a pile of it.

I stood up, and then reached out my arm to help her up.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said.

Thou Shalt Not eyes

Playlist

about the author

JJ Rossum traveled the world as a child, and called many places “home”. Currently, home is Portland, Oregon, where he is at work on other novels that were hatched while people watching during many airport layovers.

Facebook • Goodreads

giveaway

JJ is giving away:
–10 ebook copies of TSN
–$25 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal: Past Imperfect by Alison G. Bailey

Posted in Cover Reveals by

Past Imperfect by Alison G. Bailey

Past Imperfect by Alison G. Bailey
Series: Perfect #2 (full reading order below)
Release Date: February 20, 2014
Cover Designer: Robin Harper, Wicked by Design; photography by Abigail Marie, NON`PA*REIL photography
Hosted by Wordsmith Publicity
Add to Goodreads

In Present Perfect, Brad Johnson was sexy, cocky, rich and a complete Smurff**ker. He could afford anything he wanted and could charm any girl he set his eyes on. Everything was laid out in front of him, all for the taking except the one thing he craved and needed. A tragic event forces him to reevaluate his life. When he tries to change, will the people in his life let him move on from his past or will they constantly hold him to the life altering mistakes he’s made?

Mabry Darnell is intelligent, ambitious, beautiful, and sassy. Secrets from her past haunt the present causing her to question her actions in order to shield her heart and protect her life.

From the moment Brad and Mabry met, their connection was strong, intense, and electrifying. Both knew they had found the one person who could satisfy what the other ached for. When their pasts collide with their present, will it prevent them from having a future together or will love be strong enough to conquer their demons?

Past Imperfect full

Reading Order: Perfect series

Present Perfect by Alison G. Bailey Past Imperfect by Alison G. Bailey

#1 ~ Present Perfect: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Past Imperfect: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Presently Perfect: Goodreads (release date TBA)

about the author

Alison G. BaileyAlison was born and raised in Charleston, SC. As a child she used her imagination to write additional scenes to TV shows and movies that she watched. She attended Winthrop University and graduating with a BA in Theater. While at Winthrop she began writing one act plays which she later produced. Throughout the years she continued writing and producing several one act plays, but then life got in the way and she hung up her pen for a while. On the advice of a friend, she started writing again. In January 2013, Alison sat down at her computer and began writing her first novel, Present Perfect.

Alison lives in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband, Jef, and their two furry children (dogs). She’s addicted to Diet Pepsi and anything with sugar.

Blog • Twitter • Facebook

WordSmith Publicity logo