Launch Day Blitz + Excerpt & Giveaway: Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn

Masquerade Launch Day Blitz

Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn

Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn
Paperback Release Date
: June 24th 2014
Series: Games #3 (full reading order below)
Add to Goodreads

After his father is put in prison for murder leaving his mother suicidal, Maddox Cross has always put his sister, Laney, first. Now living in Brenton, Virginia, Maddox has no idea what to do with his life, especially since Laney no longer needs him. One thing he does know is for the first time since losing football, he’s found something else that’s just for him–tattooing. When he meets a feisty young woman in the club where he works security, he has no idea that she has the ability to change his life forever.

Bee Malone has just moved to Brenton to open up her first tattoo parlor, Masquerade. Despite her young success, nothing is ever as it seems. After being kidnapped at a young age, Bee has difficulty being the daughter her parents lost and letting go of the “parents” she was raised with. When she meets Maddox, she’s immediately attracted to him and what starts out as a one night stand leaves Bee wanting to connect with him in more ways than one.

Once Maddox finds out about Masquerade, he wants nothing more than to join Bee. But letting him in means trying to figure out who she is and she’s not ready for that. And yet, as the two get closer, they find themselves leaning on each other more than they are comfortable with. Will their stubborn nature tear them apart? Or push them closer together?

Purchase:
Amazon • B&N • iTunes • BAM!

excerpt

I’ve never been the type of person who sits around and dwells on life. Bad things happen all the time and overthinking them has never done shit to change anything. I remember when I went back home—or to the place I should consider home—I didn’t really understand what was going on. At thirteen I should have, but people who are kidnapped are supposed to have been hurt. They’re mistreated and locked away. They aren’t happy and loved the way I had been, so the whole thing was hard to wrap my head around.

For about a week after they sent me home, that’s all I thought about. The people who raised me and the people who lost me. How they both loved me even though I didn’t know quite how to feel about any of them. Didn’t know how I felt about that screwed up word love at all. Rex and Melody had always told me they’d loved me but now I knew they’d stolen me. My real parents said they loved me but they didn’t really know me. I wasn’t their little girl anymore. How can you love someone you don’t know?

It hurt and I cried, my chest feeling hollow and broken, knowing I should feel so many things I didn’t know how to.

Nothing changed.

I didn’t hurt any less. My real family was still broken-hearted and confused, and I’d lost who I considered my mom and dad.

That’s when I decided I wouldn’t lose myself in the past anymore. I wouldn’t stress and dwell on things I couldn’t change or even things I could, because if I made that decision the first time, there was a reason. I would stick with my choices, even when someone didn’t get them or I got shit for being closed off or hard. And I wouldn’t worry about love or try to figure it out.

Girls aren’t allowed to feel that way, I guess.

This is why I’m pissed that I haven’t stopped thinking about Maddox since he walked out of Masquerade.

Reading Order: Games series

Charade by Nyrae Dawn Facade by Nyrae Dawn Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn

#1 ~ Charade: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Facade: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Masquerade: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

about the author

Nyrae DawnWriting has always been Nyrae Dawn’s passion. Nyrae gravitates toward character-driven stories. She loves going on emotional journeys with characters whether it be reading or writing. And yes, she’s a total romantic at heart and proud.

Nyrae resides in sunny Southern California with her husband (who still makes her swoon) and her two awesome kids.

When she’s not with her family, you can be pretty sure you’ll find her with a book in her hand or her laptop and an open document in front of her. Nyrae also writes adult romance under the name Kelley Vitollo.

Website • Twitter • Facebook

giveaway

–5 winners will receive print copies of MASQUERADE

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Launch Day Blitz + Excerpt & Giveaway: Rush by Nyrae Dawn

Rush Launch Day Blitz

Rush by Nyrae Dawn

Rush by Nyrae Dawn
Release Date
: May 6, 2014
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Add to Goodreads

Brandon Chase has always defined himself by one thing: football. Tough and athletic, he is a great college player who enjoys the hard hits and the sweaty grind of the gridiron. But when Brandon is injured, only one person can help him get back on track-a forbidden love he’s desperately tried to put behind him.

Alec Andrews has never quite forgiven Brandon for walking away when their friendship turned into something more. But he can’t deny help to one of his closest friends. As the two spend the long, hot summer working together, their old attraction comes flooding back.

Now as Alec thinks about coming out to his conservative family and Brandon considers revealing he’s a gay football player, the two men must be strong to fight for a love that could be the greatest rush of their lives.

Purchase:
Amazon • B&N • iTunes

excerpt

“I want you to smile again too. It’s in there, Brand. I saw it tonight. When you had the ball and then when we were talking to my dad.”

I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do but it’s the only thing I can do. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t stop myself. I step toward Alec and slide my free hand around the back of his neck. It only takes a gentle tug to bring him even closer, his hand moving to the same place on me that mine rests on him.

Alec closes his eyes and drops his forehead to mine. Neither of us talk, and I wonder if he’s just feeling the way I am. It’s that same rush that sweeps through me every time I touch him, my nerve endings like live wires, sparking with electricity. Everything inside me screams that this is right. He’s right. How can anyone not understand this? How can I fight us?

about the author

Nyrae DawnWriting has always been Nyrae Dawn’s passion. Nyrae gravitates toward character-driven stories. She loves going on emotional journeys with characters whether it be reading or writing. And yes, she’s a total romantic at heart and proud.

Nyrae resides in sunny Southern California with her husband (who still makes her swoon) and her two awesome kids.

When she’s not with her family, you can be pretty sure you’ll find her with a book in her hand or her laptop and an open document in front of her. Nyrae also writes adult romance under the name Kelley Vitollo.

Website • Twitter • Facebook

giveaway

5 winners will receive a print copy of RUSH featuring a special signed card from Nyrae Dawn
5 winners will receive a special signed card from Nyrae Dawn

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC Review: Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn

Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn

Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn
Series: Games #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: January 7th 2014
Purchase: Ebook • Paperback
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher (Forever) in exchange for an honest review

A biker. A tattoo artist. A love to last a lifetime.

Maddox Cross has always had to be tough. When his father went to jail for murder, the teenager took care of his sister and mother. Now on his own and working security at a night club, Maddox wants to become a tattoo artist-a dream that comes closer to reality when he falls for the hottest, most tatted woman he’s ever seen. She’s wild and beautiful, and Maddox will do anything to be with her.

Bee Malone came to town to open up her new tattoo parlor, Masquerade. Since being kidnapped as a young girl, Bee has had trouble getting close to anyone. But when she meets Maddox, she sees that under his hard biker’s body is the sensitive soul of an artist. What starts out as a sizzling one-night stand soon becomes so much more.

Bee wants Maddox to join her tattoo business, but letting him into her life means revealing all her most intimate secrets. And as the past begins to intertwine with her present, Bee fears their love may not be as permanent as their ink . . .

Masquerade was phenomenal! It was slow, but poignant. I loved how the characters grew on me throughout the book, and Maddox and Bee’s story went straight to my heart. The writing flows so well (I’m definitely going to read other books by Nyrae Dawn), and some quotes just popped out at me, making me think and feel so much. When I started reading, it was a bit hard to get sucked into the book, but by the end of it all, I truly, wholeheartedly enjoyed reading Masquerade. It was the culmination of everything–the slow, sweet romance, the complexity of main characters, the wonderful writing–that had me smiling by the end of the book.

Masquerade is the third book in the Games series, but can be read as a standalone. I don’t really like starting a book that’s not the first in the series, but I made an exception for Masquerade. And it didn’t disappoint! The main characters from the other books in the series do appear in Masquerade (Maddox is the brother of the heroine from Charade), but Nyrae Dawn worked the story well enough that I didn’t need to have read the previous books. So if you want to jump in the Games series and start Masquerade first, like I did, you can!

I loved, LOVED how the main characters developed throughout the book. Maddox and Bee start off as closed, private individuals, but with good reason. Maddox kept quiet about his father’s secrets, secrets that ruined his family. His guilt makes him lost, and he has no direction in life anymore. Bee was kidnapped when she was young, but her kidnappers were ‘good’ people. They loved her, even though they stole her, and when Bee was discovered, the kidnappers went to jail. She loved those parents, but she feels guilty about loving them, because they kidnapped her. And she can’t be the good daughter her real parents want, since Bee ended up being a girl with tattoos who didn’t want to go to college. Bee doesn’t know who to love anymore, she doesn’t know what love means anymore, so she becomes lost herself.

These two lost, tortured characters eventually find their way towards each other. Bee and Maddox hook up one night, believing they’ll never see each other again. But it turns out that Bee is the tattoo parlor owner that Maddox wants to apprentice at. Bee reluctantly decides to give him a chance, recognizing in him the guilt and anger that she once, and still, feels. And that one decision gives the two of them a chance at love, love that they never really believed they would ever find. But it’s definitely not an easy road getting there.

Want. We both want each other but we know it’s not smart to act on it. I hate it but love it at the same time.

Bee and Maddox agree not to sleep with each other again, but… there’s some seriously hot chemistry between the two. The two of them spend a lot of time together at the tattoo parlor, and eventually they start opening up to each other. They don’t really talk, but they learn about each other through the other’s actions. I thought this part was very beautiful, how the two of them learn about each other not through words, but by actions. The romance builds up slowly, but it’s so, so sweet.

Through each other, Maddox and Bee learn to move past their guilt and inner pain. It was truly heart-wrenching at some parts of the book, and my heart cried out for Bee and especially Maddox. Both of these characters have so much depth and growth, and I loved reading their journey towards happiness–with each other.

Christ, we have all lost so fucking much. Parents, kids, dreams–way more than our fair share. We’ve hurt people we’ve loved and we’ve hurt ourselves and we’ve been lost. Through it all, we’re still fucking standing.

And can I just talk about the writing again? I freaking fell in LOVE with Nyrae Dawn’s writing. I highlighted so many quotes that spoke to my heart. Everything is so raw and emotional, and Nyrae Dawn portrayed everything perfectly.

This quote is one of my favorites from the book:

Reality. It’s not living a lie like so many of the people we know have done. It’s not treating life like a game of charades or living behind any type of façade. Life is fucked up, it hurts, and it’s not always pretty, but damned if it can’t be beautiful too.

I highly, highly recommend reading Masquerade or anything by Nyrae Dawn, if her writing is just as good in her other books (which I will definitely be reading soon!). Masquerade is packed with emotions, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the romance between Maddox and Bee is so real and honest and beautiful.

4 hearts
lacey

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

Reading Order: Games series

Charade by Nyrae Dawn Facade by Nyrae Dawn Masquerade by Nyrae Dawn

#1 ~ Charade: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Facade: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Masquerade: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads