Tag Archives: ARC review

ARC Review: Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always by Jessica Sorensen

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Lila and Ethan Forever and Always by Jessica Sorensen

Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always by Jessica Sorensen
Series: The Secret #4.5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: December 24th 2013
Purchase: Ebook
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher (Forever Yours) in exchange for an honest review

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Ella and Micha series comes a story of love, risks, and rewards . . .

Lila Summers just wants to know one thing for certain: that Ethan Gregory will be with her always. Once her friend, he’s become so much more, melting the pain of her past away with each kiss. Now Lila is on a road trip with Ethan, in the wilderness under the stars, and she can’t imagine her life without him. But when she talks about the future, something in Ethan changes . . .

Ethan has no doubts about his feelings for Lila. His life with her gets better every day-and that’s the scary part. How can he walk into a future where he has everything to lose? With Lila, his whole heart is on the line for the very first time. But if Ethan can’t give her the promise she needs, his greatest fear might come true: he’ll lose Lila for good.

This short novella (it’s around 80 pages) was a sweet, heartfelt ending to Lila and Ethan’s story. I really enjoyed reading about them this time around, and I connected with them much more in this book than in The Temptation of Lila and Ethan. Was it a perfect ending for them? No, but it’s real and honest. Not everyone in the world gets to have a happily ever after, but for people like Lila and Ethan, they’re sure going to try their hardest to have one.

Lila and Ethan are finally on the road trip they wanted to have, and even though the book starts off near the end of the road trip, we get the sense that the time they spent together was perfect.

When I was younger, and pictured my road trip, I’d always pictured doing it myself. But then Lila entered my life and things sort of shifted when I fell in love with her–because being alone didn’t seem as appealing as being with her.

But… now that their trip is nearly over, Lila is worried. About the future. About their future together. Because what if in the long run, Ethan won’t want her anymore? While Ethan is more of an in-the-present kind of guy, Lila likes to think about the future. But all she really wants is Ethan. She doesn’t want a proposal or a marriage right this second, but she wants the security of knowing that Ethan might someday want that, or at least want a future together.

Lila unintentionally plants seeds inside Ethan’s head, and now he’s thinking about his future, and their future, more and more. He’s against marriage, but when he looks at the future, all he sees is Lila. These two are it for each other, but I liked seeing this aspect of their relationship. They don’t know what will happen 5, 10 years down the road, but they’re hoping that they’ll still be together.

Every conversation with her, good and bad. Every moment, light and dark. I want to relive it over and over again. I want so many more moments and conversations.
I want this to be permanent. I want Lila and I to be permanent.
Forever and Always.

I liked how there’s not a definite ending to this book. Their future may be unclear, but Lila and Ethan know that can get through anything as long as they have each other. Their story is realistic, but filled with the promise of a happily ever after. It’s a bittersweet ending to this series, to Lila and Ethan’s story, and even Ella and Micha’s, but Jessica Sorensen leaves us knowing that Lila and Ethan will someday get their forever and always.

4 hearts
lacey

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

Reading Order: The Secret series

The Prelude of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen The Forever of Ella and Micha Jessica Sorensen
The Temptation of Lila and Ethan by Jessica Sorensen The Ever After of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen Lila and Ethan Forever and Always by Jessica Sorensen Ella and Micha- Infinitely and Always by Jessica Sorensen

#0.5 ~ The Prelude of Ella and Micha: Ebook • Goodreads (Nov. 11, 2014)
#1 ~ The Secret of Ella and Micha: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Forever of Ella and Micha: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ The Temptation of Lila and Ethan: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#4 ~ The Ever After of Ella and Micha: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#4.5 ~ Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#5 ~ Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (Nov. 18, 2014)

ARC Review: Torn from You by Nashoda Rose

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by

Torn from You by Nashoda Rose
Series: Tear Asunder #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: December 20th 2013
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

Love is like an avalanche. It hits hard, fast and without mercy.

At least it did for me when Sculpt, the lead singer of the rock band Tear Asunder knocked me off my feet. Literally, because he’s also a fighter, illegally of course, and he taught me how to fight. He also taught me how to love and I fell hard for him. I mean the guy could do sweet, when he wasn’t doing bossy, and I like sweet.

Then it all shattered.

Kidnapped.
Starved.
Beaten.
I was alone and fighting to survive.
When I heard Sculpt’s voice, I thought he was there to save me.

I was wrong.

Torn from You begins immediately after the cliffhanger at the end of With You. I highly, highly recommend reading With You before starting Torn from You, because in the prequel, we get a much stronger sense of the love between Emily and Sculpt. It’s not absolutely necessary, but the relationship between the main characters makes a lot more sense. Plus, we get to fall in love with Sculpt along with Emily! He’s a totally hot, domineering alpha-male. 😉

Emily has been brutally kidnapped, and is held captive in a dark place. She doesn’t know where she is, she doesn’t know who’s taken her, and all she wants is Sculpt, or as she calls him by his real name, Logan, the love of her life. She wishes that he’d find her and save her from wherever she is, because she’s absolutely terrified.

I don’t normally read dark romances, but there’s a certain allure and fascination that comes with reading something, well, bad. I have read books that involve slavery, and in Torn from You, there is sex trafficking. Emily has been thrust into this dark, horrifying, and truly evil world. It turns out she’s been taken to Mexico, and… by none other than Logan, the man she thought who loved her. Like, holy shit, right? I mean, from the blurb, you can kind of tell that Logan did take Emily, but it’s still so unbelievable. Logan was so loving and sweet to Emily in With You, and everything is torn apart once Emily knows Logan was the reason why she was kidnapped. She’s betrayed, her heart is beyond shattered, but ultimately, this girl is angry.

In this world of sex slaves, and evil, disgusting men, Emily has to learn to survive. She’s can’t risk the ire of Raul, the man in charge, or else she’ll be taken away from Logan and sold to someone else. Because right now, Logan owns her, and he’s the only thing preventing her from being sold to some unknown man. And yet even as Emily is hating Logan, she can’t help her reactions to him. She loved him, is attracted to him, and she hates that she feels this way every time he’s in the room with her. There’s a very thin line between what’s right and wrong, even though it should clearly be black and white. I suppose it’s the allure of this kind of story, but whatever it is, it hooked me in. I couldn’t stop reading, even though the book went to dark, unimaginable places. Logan is cold and ruthless, and it’s as if the man Emily loved never exists, but then, there are moments where the Logan she knew pops up. So who is the real Logan? He protects her from the truly horrific things, but he’s the one who brought her there in the first place.

“I will always do everything I can to protect you from others hurting you. I don’t want you to be scared of me. I would do anything for you. You know that, right?”

Thank god the book isn’t entirely in Mexico, because I don’t think I’d be able to handle too much of the dark side of the story. It’s fascinating, yes, but it can get a little hard to stomach. In the first part, maybe the first third, of the book, Emily is in the hands of Raul, and the rest of the story deals with the aftermath. It’s been 2 years since Emily escaped from Mexico. She hasn’t seen Logan since, and she’s been healing, but it’s a very slow process, and she’s still a little broken. Her love for horses has been her coping mechanism, but then everything changes the second Logan walks back into her life.

“Sculpt, you have to let me go.”
“Never ask me to do that.”

My heart was torn up! Do you see these quotes? They’re all from Logan, and he wants Emily back. He has never stopped loving Emily, and here their love story begins all over again. She can’t forget the past, but he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make her love him again. And oh my god, everything is crazy and intense. Everything changes when Logan comes back. The truth comes out, and Logan… oh gosh, this man is truly the best. I don’t want to give anything away, but it was because of the majority of Torn from You where Emily is free that made me love the book!

“We were torn apart, because Eme–I’d never have stayed away from you any other way.”

Eeep! The entire time Emily tries to push Logan away, he never gives up. He’s incredibly sweet and loving, and yet he’s still an undeniably sexy, dominant man. Nashoda Rose messes with your head so much in Torn from You. Is Logan truly good or bad? Can Emily ever forgive him, and maybe even love him again? Oh my gosh, I had the best time reading this! Highly, highly recommend this book for those who want to venture into this genre. It’s not too intense in the dark parts, but it’s still enough to make your heart race. And the romance–sooo good!

“You, Emily. You’re worth fighting for. I fought all my life, but never for anything worthwhile. Now… Now I’m fighting for my heart. Bullshit ends here and now.”

4.5 hearts
lacey

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

Reading Order: Tear Asunder series

 
  

#0.5 ~ With You: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1 ~ Torn from You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Overwhelmed by You: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Shattered by You: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Kept from You: Goodreads (Dec. 5, 2016)

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ARC Review: With You by Nashoda Rose

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by

With You by Nashoda Rose
Series: Tear Asunder #0.5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: December 20th 2013
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

Sculpt is an illegal fighter.

He’s also the lead singer of a local rock band.

No one knows his real name.

And from the moment I met him, he made me forget mine.

In order to convince Sculpt to give me self-defense lessons, I had to follow his one rule—no complaining or he’d walk. I didn’t think it would be a problem. I could handle a few bruises. What I hadn’t anticipated was landing on my back with Sculpt on top of me and my entire body burning up for him.

I tried to ignore it.

I failed of course. And having a hot, tattooed badass on top of me week after week, acting completely immune to what he was doing to my body—it was frustrating as hell, so I broke his rule—I complained.

Then he kissed me.

Oh my, hot hot hottie alert! Sculpt is one delicious hunk of man, and my latest indulgence. He’s an underground fighter, he’s a total alpha-male, he’s in a freaking band, and he’s one bad, bad boy. He’s the total package, and I loved him in With You!

“I kiss you Emily… there’s no going back. No other guy kisses you, touches you, or gets to taste what’s mine. I don’t share.”

With You is a novella and prequel to the Tear Asunder series, and tells the story of how Emily and Sculpt meet. Emily needs someone to teach her how to protect and defend herself, since she was attacked by a man recently, and Sculpt, while not the ideal man, is perfect for the job. But when Emily asks Sculpt to teach her how, he’s rude and a complete jerk, in that usual, domineering, alpha-male way. But Emily is a tough girl, and she won’t back down from Sculpt. Sculpt finally relents and agrees to help Emily, starting them down a path towards a fierce, passionate love.

There so much tension between the two! Emily is not unaffected by Sculpt’s good looks, but she doesn’t do anything because even though she’s confident enough to fight for what she wants, she doesn’t have confidence in herself. But Sculpt makes her see herself differently. As the two become closer, they start to fall for each other. And these two are just the sweetest together. Sculpt may be controlling and a bit possessive, but it’s so obvious how much he treasures Emily.

“Emily. You’re a fuckn’ trophy. My trophy.”

And yet Sculpt is still shrouded in mystery. Emily doesn’t truly know who he is, but the scene where he tells her his real name… *dreamy sigh* It always gets to me when the guy wants the girl he loves to call him by his real name, the name no one else knows or gets to call him. But while it seems that Emily and Sculpt are on their way to a happily ever after, everything changes one night.

With You ends with a cliffhanger, but luckily, Torn from You is out too! I adored this novella–and highly recommend reading it before starting Torn from You. In With You, we get to see the love blooming between Sculpt and Emily, which is really important to read before going into book 1 of the Tear Asunder series.

4.5 hearts
lacey

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

Reading Order: Tear Asunder series

 
  

#0.5 ~ With You: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1 ~ Torn from You: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Overwhelmed by You: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Shattered by You: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Kept from You: Goodreads (Dec. 5, 2016)

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Blog Tour + ARC Review & Giveaway: The Redhead Plays Her Hand by Alice Clayton

Posted in 3.5 hearts, Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews by

The Redhead Plays Her Hand banner

The Redhead Plays Her Hand by Alice Clayton

The Redhead Plays Her Hand by Alice Clayton
Series: Redhead #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: December 17th 2013
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher (Gallery Books) in exchange for an honest review
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The third sexy novel in USA TODAY bestselling author Alice Clayton’s playful and erotic Redhead series continues the sizzling romance between actress Grace Sheridan and Hollywood’s hottest leading man Jack Hamilton. 

Grace has landed the lead in a new TV series—but when the director asks her to lose fifteen pounds, she goes public with her weight struggles and suddenly develops a huge fan club who support her right to have curves. But between that and the public’s continuing fascination with her “are they or aren’t they” relationship with Jack, Grace begins to wonder if anyone’s really interested in her because of her upcoming TV series, or if it’s all speculation about the size of her ass and her bedroom partner.

Meanwhile, Jack is voted the Sexiest Man Alive and becomes a little too enamored with the party-hard lifestyle. Grace vows to give him the space he needs to find himself, but then he begins to spiral down from lovable Brit to Hollywood brat. People are talking, but are Jack and Grace? Her career is on the rise, and his continues into the stratosphere, but will she be able to catch him if he falls? Will they ever be able to just be a couple who can hold hands when they walk down the street?

Purchase:
Ebook • Paperback

review

As frustrating as The Redhead Plays Her Hand was to read, I honestly enjoyed Grace and Jack’s final book. Grace and Jack have been through so much in the previous two books, but they’re not quite done yet. In this third and final book in the Redhead series, Alice Clayton amps up the drama, angst, and heartbreak, but everything else you can expect from a Redhead book–laugh-out-loud humor, hot, steamy sex, and the sweetest love between Gracie and Jack–is still there.

“I love you.”
“I love you more.”
“Not bloody likely.”

Grace has finally hit it big in show-business, but in order to have the job, she’s got to drop some pounds. She feels comfortable in her body already–Jack is a big help in this. He worships her body, loves her body, and is everything you can expect from a perfect (younger) boyfriend. She has no problem with having to lose weight, as it’s part of the job, but the public is harsh against her. With Jack becoming more and more famous, Grace is being critically scrutinized by fans, paparazzi, and gossip magazines.

Pick your path. You don’t get to decide how the public reacts. You only get to decide how you react.
True, very true.
Victim? Warrior? Pick. Your. Path.

The best part that I love about Grace is how she deals with tough situations. In TRPHH, Grace has to deal with harsh criticism about her weight. It’s Hollywood, so everyone who isn’t stick-thin is considered overweight, even if they are perfectly healthy, and this includes Grace. She lets the criticism bring her down a bit before she stands up for herself, and starts to make a change in Hollywood. I had so much admiration for this girl while I was reading, because she uses her growing fame to reach out to all women to show them that no matter what size they are, they’re beautiful.

And in that moment, I realized how out of control everything had become. Big, small, curvy, or bony, beauty was beauty. I was healthy. I was exactly the size I was supposed to be, and that was it.

Meanwhile, Grace also has to deal with Jack being… not so lovable anymore. Jack was perfect in the first two books of the series, and now, Jack’s not so perfect anymore. He’s the main reason why I couldn’t enjoy the book as much as I wanted to. The fame has finally gotten to Jack’s head, and it doesn’t help that he’s making friends with Adam, a fellow actor and known as Hollywood’s party boy. Adam influences Jack to party and drink more, but Adam can’t take all the blame. Jack deals with the fame, as well as the unsavory parts that come with it–the constant paparazzi, no privacy, the criticisms on his girlfriend–in the worst way possible. He pulls away from everyone, including Grace, and spirals down until he’s a mess.

But even with Jack’s hard partying, we can always feel the love Jack and Grace have for each other. These two are it for each other, and this is just another bump in the road for them before they can reach their happily ever after. They’ll work through anything and everything for each other.

In this moment, in this car, on this stretch of highway, we were a couple in love. We were not an older woman and a younger man, Jack wasn’t the Sexiest Man Alive, but he was the sexiest man in my world. I wasn’t an up-and-coming actress who’d been asked about the size of her boyfriend’s dick the night before by a total stranger, I was a girl in a convertible in my pajamas, holding hands with the man I was in love with.

It was difficult to read this book and not get frustrated with Jack, but I still loved the sweet ending to this series. I loved how Alice Clayton blended in the humor and sweetness with the more serious parts of the book. Can’t say I LOVED this book, but Grace and Jack’s story wraps up perfectly.

3.5 hearts
lacey

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

The Unidentified Redhead by Alice Clayton The Redhead Revealed by Alice Clayton The Redhead Plays Her Hand by Alice Clayton

#1 ~ The Unidentified Redhead: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Redhead Revealed: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ The Redhead Plays Her Hand: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

about the author

Alice ClaytonAlice Clayton is a novelist with an unholy love for her KitchenAid mixer. Making her home in St Louis, she enjoys gardening but not weeding, baking but not cleaning up afterwards, and is trying desperately to get her long time boyfriend to make her an honest woman. Hi sweetie!!

After working for years in the cosmetics industry as a makeup artist, esthetician, and national educator for a major cosmetics company, Alice picked up a pen (read laptop) for the first time at 33 to begin a new career, writer. Combining her love of storytelling with a sense of silly, she was shocked and awed to be nominated for a Goodreads Author award in 2010 for her debut novels, The Redhead Series.

Alice has penned three novels, The Unidentified Redhead,The Redhead Revealed, and coming soon in November 2012, Wallbanger. She thinks you should purchase them immediately. She’s not kidding, not even a little bit. Everyone needs some comedic erotica in their lives. She is hard at work on the third book in The Redhead Series, set to release in Spring of 2013, continuing the saucy and sexual escapades of everyone’s favorite couple, Jack and Grace.

Additionally, Alice loves spending time with her besties on Not Your Mother’s Podcast, make sure you check them out at notyourmotherspodcast.com or over on iTunes. 3 women rushing towards their forties still acting like teenagers. A saucy little mix of sex, love, relationships, pop cultural, celebrity gossip and All Things Jake Ryan.

Alice enjoys pickles, Bloody Mary’s, 8 hours of sleep, and a good pounding.

Finally Alice would also like all her readers and listeners to help her convince Mt. Alice that the only other thing that would make her truly happy is finally bringing home a Bernese Mountain Dog. She is totally serious. And done talking about herself in the third person…

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads

giveaway

5 signed sets of the Redhead series
Tiffany “Schmaltz” necklace

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC Review: The Fine Line by Alicia Kobishop

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by

The Fine Line by Alicia Kobishop

The Fine Line by Alicia Kobishop
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: December 6th 2013
Purchase: Ebook • Paperback
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

High school senior Liv Evans has one rule: No attachments. She’s lost enough in her life and has vowed to do whatever it takes to make sure she never again feels the emptiness of losing someone she loves. Boys are a fun distraction, but a serious relationship is something she’d rather live without. Her determination for a future free of pain and heartbreak is put to the test when she meets–and quickly forms an unexpected bond–with Logan Tanner.

Logan has always been a free spirit, but ever since a life-changing event took place, which left him doubting the integrity of those who are closest to him, he’s taken that term to a whole new dangerous level. Learning the hard way that life is too short for worries or work–and that women can’t be trusted–Logan has exchanged steady work for street racing. When Liv walks into his world, everything he thought he knew about life and women is challenged.

In The Fine Line, Liv and Logan will discover if it’s possible for true love to have a future, or if history is destined to repeat itself.

Ah, what a book! I had the best time reading The Fine Line. It has a wonderful set of characters, a fantastic story I was hooked onto from the first page, and one delicious street racing boy named Logan. It’s not the most perfect book, but if you want an exciting, heartfelt contemporary romance, then I highly recommend The Fine Line.

Olivia Evans is a high school senior who doesn’t do relationships. Like, at all. Sure, she’ll make out with guys and just have fun, but she won’t have a boyfriend. Because her whole life, people who she loved always left her. The people she grew to love and care about would always leave her in some way, making her devastated, and then one day, she decided it was enough. She wouldn’t let anyone get close to her heart again, because then, it wouldn’t matter if they left or not, and she wouldn’t be hurt. But then things change the second Liv meets Logan.

“You can’t live your life based on ‘what-ifs,’ Liv. And change is inevitable. It’s the one thing you can always count on. Stop worrying about what might or might not happen and follow your heart. How can you expect to ever be happy if you don’t?”

Oh, and did I mention I was really impressed with the writing? It flowed so well and smoothly. And I loved the little bits of humor that popped up here and there. The Fine Line made me laugh and grin, but then it would make my heart hurt, and I loved that.

When Liv and Logan meet, sparks fly. But… they don’t do anything about it. Neither of them are relationship type people and so they become friends, even with the tension building up between them. And throughout most of the book, it’s the whole, When will they finally get together? But even though I was just waiting for Liv and Logan to explode and get together, I really enjoyed reading their time together as friends. They get a little jealous over other guys and girls, but when they’re friends, Logan and Liv are so darn sweet together.

But no matter how hard Liv tries to push Logan away, he worms his way past her wall and into her heart. And Logan is just the sweetest! Here we have this badass boy who street races, and he’s so loving to Liv. My heart hurt so much for Logan, because he loves her so much, and yet Liv is so resistant to the idea of being in a relationship. Still, Logan doesn’t give up.

“Liv, I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve never wanted another human being as much as I want you. And I don’t just mean like this. I want to make you happy.”

There’s heartache and heartbreak along with the sweet and loving, and there is never a dull moment in The Fine Line. Liv learns to let Logan into her heart, even though there’s always a risk of losing him. Their journey towards finding happiness together is wonderfully written. And for those who like a little excitement and thrill in their romances, the ending part of the book won’t disappoint. I enjoyed reading this book so much! Thanks to the author for providing a copy to review!

4 hearts
lacey

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