Release Day Blitz + Teaser & Giveaway: Raw by Belle Aurora

Posted in Giveaways, Spotlight by Lacey

Title: Raw
Author: Belle Aurora
Genre: New Adult Dark Romance
Release Date: January 3, 2014
Hosted by: Love Between the Sheets Promotions

*Author Note: This is not a love story. This is a story of love gone wrong.*

Growing up the way I did, you’d think I’d be more screwed up than what I actually am.

Soon as I turned sixteen, I left that bump in the road I called home and took my chances on the street.

Best decision I ever made.

Now, at the age of twenty six, I’m educated, employed and damn good at my job.

My friends have become my family. Like me, they know what it’s like to grow up unloved.

But the saying is true.

The world makes way for those who know where they are going.

That’s me.

I know where I’m going and I’ll get there eventually. On my own terms and at my own pace.

But then there’s him.

I feel his eyes on me. I see him hiding in plain sight. He watches me.

He makes me feel.

It’s unconventional.

But it’s real.

I’m sure you’re wondering how a person falls in love with their stalker.

So am I.

This isn’t a story.

This is my life.

Purchase:
Amazon US • Amazon UK

Mini Teaser

Staring down at my chest, she takes a step closer to me and whispers miserably, “I’m here to let Brad fuck me.” My cheek ticks and head implodes. She steps closer to me to add, “He’s going to fuck me. Fuck me til I forget you. Til I forget I ever met you. He’s helping me drown you out and I like when I’m not thinkin’ about you.”

She looks into my eyes and repeats on a whisper, “You’re poison.”

Belle Aurora is twenty six years old and was born in the land down under.  At an early age she fell in love with reading. Boredom one summer had her scouring the bookshelves at home. She stumbled across Sandra Brown’s Breath of Scandal and fell in love with romance. Having been brought up in a loud and boisterous family of Croatian descent, she developed a natural love for dramatics and humor. Only some years ago had she discovered a new love.  Humorous romance novels. Kristen Ashley and R.L. Mathewson had opened a brand new world where she could lose herself yet feel safe and at home in their stories. Belle has been known to become a screeching banshee while anxiously awaiting their newest titles. Belle never thought she would write. It had never interested her until recently. Friend-Zoned began to form and in February this year Belle typed the words Chapter One. And she fell in love. With words. With writing. With a creative imagination she never knew she harbored.

Connect with Belle: Facebook • Goodreads • Twitter

You can find teasers of Belle’s books here – https://www.goodreads.com/story/list/18164357

(2) eBook copes of Friend-Zoned, (2) eBook copies of Love Thy Neighbor, (4) eBook copies of Willing Captive, (5) eBook copies of Raw and (1) Signed SUPER Swag Pack open INT

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3Jan2014

Release Day Blitz + Excerpt: Without Doubt by C.J. Azevedo

Posted in Giveaways, Spotlight by Lacey

Ava Sterling is tough and the most straight laced girl you will ever meet. Her family and her past have managed to alter her future permanently and she has no desire to allow anyone else into her life or her heart for fear of rejection or further altering. Ava is alone in the world with the exception of the grandest responsibility she did not create on her own but on her own she will carry for the rest of her life.

Declan James is a MMA fighter, party all night kind of guy. Responsibility is nowhere to be found in his life or so he allows everyone around him to believe. Coming from wealth and a carefree lifestyle, Declan gets what he wants, always. And what he wants is Ava. In his pursuit of getting what he wants, Ava in his bed, his plan changes quickly without his consent. Against his plans of being the next hot bachelor to cross the tabloids as he makes his way to being the Ultimate Light Heavyweight Champion, Declan falls in love. He falls in love without hesitation and without doubt.

Neither Declan nor Ava are aware that fate has inconveniently intertwined their lives forever. Will they be able to survive the aftermath of the truth?

Buy Link:
Amazon | Smashwords

Excerpt

I start restocking the beer fridge when I get the feeling someone is watching me. I turn slowly to take in the people in the bar and check for anything suspicious. When my sight reached the back of the room, I found the set of eyes that made me stir. Declan. Deep blue-green eyes set just below dark furrowed brows. The piercing in his right brow shone under the low overhead lighting above his table and made me want to take it between my teeth. Our gazes connect and he doesn’t look away. The girl is still sitting on his lap and running her skanky hand up and down his thigh. She has no idea that he’s been staring at me for at least the last thirty seconds. Not being able to handle the stare contest any longer, I smile at him. He doesn’t smile back and it really doesn’t bother me. It probably should, but I have a feeling that it’s not a negative emotion that makes him continue to stare blankly.

CJ has lived all over the state of California, Central, South, North and finally landing back somewhere in the middle. She married the boy she fell for when she was only eleven years old and together they have two beautiful heathens. CJ obviously loves to read and write. She can watch the Giant’s play baseball but hates football. She bakes when she’s sad, runs when she’s mad and dances when she’s happy (even if she cant find a rhythm to save her life) If you’re looking for her and can’t seem to find her, look on the staircase, it’s her favorite spot to read.

Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

2Jan2014

Blog Tour + Early Review & Giveaway: Rome by Jay Crownover

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

Click the banner to follow the tour!

Title: Rome
Series: Marked Men #3 (full reading order below)
Author: Jay Crownover
Genre: New Adult
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing
Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.

Cora Lewis is a whole lot of fun, and she knows how to keep her tattooed bad boy friends in line. But all that flash and sass hide the fact that she’s never gotten over the way her first love broke her heart. Now she has a plan to make sure that never happens again: She’s only going to fall in love with someone perfect.

Rome Archer is as far from perfect as a man can be. He’s stubborn and rigid, he’s bossy and has come back from his final tour of duty fundamentally broken. Rome’s used to filling a role: big brother, doting son, super soldier; and now none of these fit anymore. Now he’s just a man trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life while keeping the demons of war and loss at bay. He would have been glad to suffer it alone, until Cora comes sweeping into his life and becomes the only color on his bleak horizon.

Perfect isn’t in the cards for these two, but imperfect might just last forever . . .

Purchase Links:
Amazon US • Amazon UK • Amazon CA • Barnes and Noble • iTunes • Indie Bound

I have to say that I had the best time reading Rome! I was so excited to read Rule’s brother’s book, and it doesn’t disappoint. If you thought Rule Archer was hot, wait until you read about Rome. The romance was slow, but sweet, and went straight to my heart. Cora and Rome are perfect for each other, and I highly enjoyed their story!

Rome is not his usual self at the beginning of the book. He’s usually more easy-going and friendly, but leaving the army hasn’t been good for him. He feels like he has no purpose anymore. Oh, this poor, sexy man has so many demons. He has to deal with what he went through in the war, and now he has to cope with the fact that the people he loves dearly don’t really need him that much anymore. Rule and Shaw and everyone else love Rome, without a doubt, but they don’t need him to take care of them anymore. Rome, the loyal, protective, sweet man that he is, feels lost. But when he meets Cora, and a bar owner named Brite, he starts to have a purpose in life again.

Cora was a bit frustrating, but she grew on me later on. This tough-as-nails body modifier has been dealt a crappy hand in the romance department, and has vowed to never settle for less than Mr. Perfect. She wants the best and certainly deserves a person who will give all of himself and his love to her when she is willing to do the same, but her standards might be a little high, or at least skewed. And all of her previous notions of Mr. Perfect start to dissolve when she meets Rome.

…I could see the idea of Mr. Perfect, this fictional ideal I had built up in my head, start to tatter under the force of everything that was Rome Archer.

Cora and Rome are not perfect people, and are in fact quite broken, but together, they make something sweet and beautiful. Because of each other, they learn more about themselves, and they support and heal each other only in the way these two characters can. And they’re just so freaking cute! I thought it was adorable that a feisty, tiny Tinkerbell of a woman and a big, hulking, protective man fell for each other. Opposites really do attract, huh? And they have an incredibly hot chemistry together!

Rome is another fantastic addition to Jay Crownover’s Marked Men series. And another amazing part to the book? We get tons more of the other characters, especially Rule and Shaw (who are my favorite!). Now I’m so, so excited for Nash’s story, which is next!

Favorite quote:

“Love isn’t perfect. It’s hard work and sometimes it’s more effort to be in love than it is to just run away. If you keep looking for perfect, the real thing is going to pass right by you.”

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

Reading Order: Marked Men series

#1 ~ Rule: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Jet: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Rome: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#4 ~ Nash: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#5 ~ Rowdy: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (Oct. 21, 2014)
#6 ~ Asa: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (April 14, 2015)

I’m supposed to share interesting details about myself so that my readers get to know me so here we go in no particular order: I’m an natural redhead even though I haven’t seen my real hair color in years, I’m a big fan of tattoos and have a half sleeve on either arm and various other pieces all over the place, I’ve been in the bar industry since I was in college and it has always offered interesting insight into how men and women interact with each other, I have 3 dogs that are all crazy, I live in Colorado and love the snow, I love music and in all reality wish I could be a rock star not a writer or a bartender but I have zero talent so there is that.

I love to write, love to read and all I’m interested in is a good story with interesting characters that make the reader feel something.

Connect with Jay: Facebook • Twitter • Website • Goodreads

First Prize: Jay’s iPod with her library and Nash’s playlist before anyone else has it. All Three Marked Men books signed Rule, Jet and Rome
Second Prize: $25.00 Gift Card Amazon with signed copies of all Three Marked Men Books Rule, Jet and Rome
Third Prize: All Three Marked Men books signed Rule, Jet and Rome and swag
Fourth and Fifth Prize: Signed Copy of Rome and Swag

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2Jan2014

Teaser Blitz: A Little Too Much by Lisa Desrochers

Posted in Giveaways, Spotlight by Lacey

A Little Too Much by Lisa Desrochers
Series: A Little Too Far #2 (full reading order below)
Release Date: November 12, 2013

In the follow-up to Lisa Desrochers’ explosive New Adult novel A Little Too Far, Alessandro Moretti must face the life he escaped and the girl he loved and left behind.

Twenty-two year old Hilary McIntyre would like nothing more than to forget her past. As a teenager abandoned to the system, she faced some pretty dark times. But now that’s all behind her. Hilary has her life on track, and there’s no way she’ll head back down that road again.

Until Alessandro Moretti—the one person who can make her remember—shows up on her doorstep. He’s even more devastatingly gorgeous than before, and he’s much too close for comfort. Worse, he sees right through the walls she’s built over these last eight years, right into her heart and the secrets she’s guarding.

As Hilary finds herself falling back into love with the man who, as a boy both saved and destroyed her, she must decide. Past or future? Truth or lies?

“I am a HUGE Lisa Desrochers fan!” –Katy Evans, New York Times bestselling author of REAL

“Lisa Desrochers is a unique and sultry voice in the New Adult genre.” –JAY CROWNOVER, New York Times bestselling author of RULE

Buy Links:
Amazon • B&N

Teasers:

Reading Order: A Little Too Far series

#1 ~ A Little Too Far: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ A Little Too Much: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ A Little Too Hot: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

LISA DESROCHERS is the USA Today bestselling author of the A Little Too Far series, courtesy of HarperCollins, and the young adult Personal Demons trilogy from Macmillan. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two very busy daughters, and Shini the tarantula. Find her online at www.lisadwrites.com , on Twitter at @LisaDez, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LisaDesrochersAuthor.

AUTHOR LINKS:
Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads

Prize is a $25 Kindle or Nook gift card, signed and annotated copies of A LITTLE TOO FAR, and swag.

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1Jan2014

Review: Ricochet by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Posted in 5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Ricochet by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Series: Addicted #1.5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: August 1st 2013
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

As a sex addict, Lily Calloway must do the impossible. Stay celibate for 90 days.

Cravings and fantasies become her new routine, but while Loren Hale recovers from his alcohol addiction, Lily wonders if he’ll realize what a monster she really is. After all, her sexual compulsions begin to rule her life the longer she stays faithful to him.

Progress. That’s what Lily’s striving for. But by trying to become closer to her family—people who aren’t aware of her addiction—she creates larger obstacles. When she spends time with her youngest sister, she learns more about her than she ever imagined and senses an unsettling connection between Daisy and Ryke Meadows.

With Lily and Lo’s dysfunctional relationship teetering and unbalanced, they will need to find a way to reconnect from miles apart. But the inability to “touch” proves to be one of the hardest tests on their road to recovery. Some love brushes the surface. Some love is deeper than skin.

Lily and Lo have three months to discover just how deep their love really goes.

I was debating whether I should review this book or not, since I zipped through this in order to read Addicted for Now, but what the hell, I loved this book, so I want to gush! It was so much fun to read, and there’s so much going on in this book. It’s actually a full-length sized novel, even though it’s book 1.5, but I was totally fine with that! Because I whole-heartedly adore this series! It’s become my new favorite series. I really can’t believe I didn’t start it the second Addicted to You came out. Actually, no–I’d rather the entire series already be out for me to read… because it’s killing me to wait for Connor and Rose’s story (Kiss the Sky), Ryke and Daisy’s (Hothouse Flower), and the rest of Lily and Lo’s. So if you haven’t read this series, please, please do. It’s incredibly well written, the characters are imperfectly perfect, and you’ll fall in love with every single one of them, like I did (with Connor and Ryke especially).

And I don’t think… I don’t think many people can really understand what it’s like to be so invested in someone–to share every single moment and then to have them ripped from you. We have an unhealthy, co-dependent relationship.
I know this.
And I’m trying to change, to grow beyond him, but why does that have to be a stipulation?
I want to grow with him.
I want to be with him.
I want to love Lo without people telling me that our love is too much.
One day, I hope we’ll get there. Hope, that’s all I have to go on right now. It’s my driving force. It’s literally what keeps me standing.

This quote basically sums up what Lily is going through in Ricochet. After the mess they were in during Addicted to You, Lily and Lo finally found the help Lo needed to fight his alcoholism and he’s off the rehab now, leaving Lily alone to battle her own addiction. Which is, ahem, to sex. And she can’t have sex during the three months Lo is in rehab, not only for Lo and their relationship, but also for herself. She has to fight her addiction just as Lo is fighting his own.

The authors are so freaking gooood at wringing out the emotions, the pain and desperation Lily feels. She’s terrified that she’ll fall to temptation without Lo there to help her, but she’ll fight through it for him, because the only thing she wants more than sex is Lo. And even though Lo doesn’t show up much in the book, we know that he’d give Lily the world if she wanted it. It’s this kind of intensity, this kind of connection, that I love about Lily and Lo and their relationship. They make me love them and feel so much for them, hurt so much for them, and in the end, cheer for them.

“I love you,” he says again, “and no other man will ever say those words and mean them the way I do.”

But I have to admit, a large part of why I loved Ricochet (and this series)? The fantastic secondary characters. We have more of Connor, Rose, Ryke, and a new addition, Daisy, all of whom are Lily and Lo’s closest friends and family. Don’t you just love books where the secondary characters are just as invigorating to read about as the main characters? I love it when authors can make me care and love the them just as much as the main characters. And Krista and Becca Ritchie do an excellent job at that. I fell in love even more with Connor, Rose, Ryke, and Daisy. Each of them have such distinctive personalities, strengths, and faults that I love to read about.

In Ricochet, we get bunches more of Ryke, the flaming asshole, and Daisy, the model and sixteen-year-old. I had to mention Daisy’s age, because in this book, Daisy and Ryke have something going on. They’re not together or sleeping with each other or anythign like that (because that’d be a hello to jail-time for Ryke), but they have something forming, and oh my god, I can’t wait for Daisy to turn eighteen! *evil, giddy laugh* Daisy and Ryke’s story is seriously going to rock my socks off. But anyway, the three of them plus Daisy’s friends have gone on a yacht to Mexico for Daisy’s birthday, and this was seriously the funniest part of the book. Lily is already a hilarious narrator, but with Ryke, the abrasive, rude, no-words-held-back guy, on vacation with her? Best thing ever. But I loved that even with the hysterics, Ryke truly does have a positive influence on Lily, and supports her throughout her abstinence.

“One,” I say in a small voice. “I will not look at porn.”
“I thought this was supposed to be a proclamation.” Ryke rocks on the balls of his feet. He leans forward and says, “I can’t even hear you.”
“Say it like you mean it,” Rose agrees with a supportive nod.
“Scream it,” Connor adds.
“I will not look at porn!” …
“Two. I will not masturbate!” …
“Three. I will not be compulsive about sex!” …
“And four,” I pause as I look at these final words. They mean the absolute most to me. “I will not cheat on Loren Hale!”

And so month by month, Lily tries her hardest to not have sex. She has the unwavering support of Rose, Connor, and Ryke, and she’s even started seeing a therapist. We also get to see various flashbacks of when Lily and Lo were younger, and they are so freaking adorable together. But with these flashbacks, we also see vaguely how Lily became addicted to sex. There are uphills and downhills for Lily and Lo in the past and the present, but at least now they’re choosing to fight their addictions and fight for each other.

No guy touched me. I didn’t touch them. Sex was the last thing on my mind tonight.
Each day feels like an obstacle.
And a victory.

Ricochet is more of a companion book to the series, but I’d still highly recommend reading it. There are things in Ricochet that are mentioned in Addicted for Now (book 2), and the storylines for Rose and Connor, and Daisy and Ryke build up more in this book. Ricochet takes place during those three months Lily and Lo are apart because of rehab, and we get to see how Lily copes without her lifeline. Fans of the series won’t be disappointed with Ricochet.

This book – and series – is the bomb. Seriously.

Reading Order: Addicted series

#1 ~ Addicted to You: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1.5 ~ Ricochet: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Addicted for Now: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2.1 (Calloway Sisters #1) ~ Kiss the Sky: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2.2 (Calloway Sisters #2) ~ Hothouse Flower: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2.5 ~ Thrive: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Addicted After All: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.1 (Calloway Sisters #3) ~ Fuel the Fire: My Review •˜ Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.2 (Calloway Sisters #4) ~ Long Way Down: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.5 (Calloway Sisters #4.5) ~ Some Kind of Perfect: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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Release Day Blitz + Teaser & Giveaway: Raw by Belle Aurora