Early Review: Rock Courtship by Nalini Singh

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Rock Courtship by Nalini Singh
Series: Rock Kiss #1.5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: September 30th 2014
Links: Ebook • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher (TKA Distribution) in exchange for an honest review

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s new contemporary romance novella is pure hard rock and scorching heat…

What happens when the Gentleman of Rock decides to play dirty?

A drummer for the hottest rock band on the planet, David has a single, powerful weakness: Thea, the band’s publicist and the woman who steals his breath away with her every move.

Only problem is, Thea doesn’t date clients—or musicians. Emotionally scarred by a cheating ex, she’s not about to risk her heart with a man who has groupies buzzing around him like flies. Even if his sexy smile ties her up in knots.

What she doesn’t know is that David is a one-woman man…and he’s madly in love with her. David’s determined to prove he’s worth the risk, and willing to court her, step by exquisite step. Thea’s about to discover just how long and hard this handsome drummer can play.

I adored the first book in Nalini Singh’s Rock Kiss series (my review of Rock Addiction), so I was so excited to read Rock Courtship! And oh my gosh, I’m so happy with Thea and David’s story!! I kind of wish it were a full-length novel so I could get more of them, but their novella is pretty much sweet, sexy, and perfect.

If you’ve read Rock Addiction (if you haven’t, you definitely should!) then you know that David, the drummer of Schoolboy Choir, has always had a thing for Thea, the band’s publicist. Well, it’s more than just a thing – he’s totally and completely in love with her. I was rooting for him to win over Thea in Rock Addiction, and we finally get to have their story told in Rock Courtship. Their story was actually so much more than I thought it would be – it was heartfelt, romantic, funny, sweet, and definitely sexy. I had so much fun reading this book!

Thea is a very take-charge kind of woman – she’s confident, bold, headstrong, but she doesn’t have a good history of dating men who accept her for who she is, so she doesn’t trust men. David, though, knows exactly who Thea is, and loves her all the more for it. But… Thea has a strict policy of not dating clients. It doesn’t matter that there’s some hot chemistry between the two, Thea won’t date David. But David is persistent. He’s the kind of man who doesn’t bulldoze his way towards his woman – instead, he strategizes the best way to win her over, and in this case, it’s writing memos to Thea.

Reasons Why You Should Give Us a Shot
Introduction: In this memo, I, David Rivera, explain why you, Thea Arsana, should seriously consider entering into a relationship with me.

As a publicist, Thea is unable to help herself from reading memos, so it’s really the perfect plan for David to get Thea to listen to him. And I loved them all! David, the Gentleman of Rock, is honest, sweet, romantic, funny, and very very passionate in his memos to Thea. He definitely won over my heart as well as Thea’s this way. These memos made me smile, laugh, clutch my heart – they were just too cute!

Thea gives as good as she gets when she replies to David’s memos with some of her own, and the two of them go back and forth, playfully replying to each other. Thea tries to make David see that they won’t work, but with the memos (and then phone calls), Thea slowly opens her heart to him and begins to trust that maybe he won’t break her heart after all.

These two are just perfect together! David and Thea make the sweetest couple ever. And even though their lives aren’t exactly simple, and they don’t get to see each other 24/7, they still try their hardest to make a relationship between them work.

She was it for him. Today, tomorrow, every day to come.

Rock Courtship was just a sweet, sweet read. I adored David and Thea’s courtship (*wink*). It’s a quick, fun, light-hearted read that fans of the first book won’t want to miss. We also get to see the other members of the band and Molly, which I was really happy about. Now I’m just so excited for the other band members to get their stories!!

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

Reading Order: Rock Kiss series

#1 ~ Rock Addiction: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1.5 ~ Rock Courtship: Ebook • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Rock Hard: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Rock Redemption: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Rock Wedding: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (July 19, 2016)

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24Sep2014

Review Tour: Stay with Me by J. Lynn

Posted in 4 hearts, Blog Tours, Reviews by Lacey

Welcome to today’s stop on the review tour for STAY WITH ME by J. Lynn/Jennifer L. Armentrout!

Stay with Me by J. Lynn
Series: Wait for You #3 (full reading order below)
Release Date: September 23rd 2014

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You and Be with Me comes a daring tale that pushes boundaries . . .

At 21, Calla hasn’t done a lot of things. She’s never been kissed, never seen the ocean, never gone to an amusement park. But growing up, she witnessed some things no child ever should. She still carries the physical and emotional scars of living with a strung-out mother, Mona—secrets she keeps from everyone, including her close circle of college friends.

But the safe cocoon Calla has carefully built is shattered when she discovers her mom has stolen her college money and run up a huge credit card debt in her name. Now, Calla has to go back to the small town she thought she’d left behind and clean up her mom’s mess again. Of course, when she arrives at her mother’s bar, Mona is nowhere to be found. Instead, six feet of hotness named Jackson James is pouring drinks and keeping the place humming.

Sexy and intense, Jax is in Calla’s business from the moment they meet, giving her a job and helping her search for Mona. And the way he looks at her makes it clear he wants to get horizontal . . . and maybe something more. Before Calla can let him get close, though, she’s got to deal with the pain of the past—and some very bad guys out to mess her up if she doesn’t give them her mom.

Buy Links:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes • Kobo • Google Play

JLA is one of those authors that you can trust–when I pick up a JLA book, I know that I won’t be disappointed, and her latest release, Stay with Me, is no exception. I am sooo in love with this series. Each book in the Wait for You series manages to be a captivating, sexy, fun read, and I highly enjoyed Calla and Jax’s story.

We first met Calla as Teresa’s college friend in Be with Me. We didn’t really know much about her, except for the scar she has running down her face, but it turns out there’s a LOT to this girl. First, she’s incredibly self-conscious about her scars–the one on her face and the ones on her body–so much so that she hasn’t really… well, done anything. She’s never been kissed, let alone had sex, never gotten drunk, never done anything fun during her 21 years. Her main focus has been getting through nursing school. Second, Calla has many secrets, secrets that shame her enough that she hides her past from her friends.

So when her drug addict of a mother steals all of Calla’s money that she needs to pay for school, Calla can’t keep hiding her secrets and ignoring/running away from her past anymore. The summer after her school year is over, Calla reluctantly packs up and moves back to her hometown, a place she never wanted to return to, to try to track down her mother to get her money back. But she never expected to get involved in dangerous schemes, and she definitely never expected Jax.

“… When I want something, I go for it. Life is way too damn short to live any other way. And I want to get to know you better.” Those lashes lowered one more time, his gaze tracking to my lips like they were some kind of mecca. “Yeah, I definitely want to get to know you better.”

Jax is the ex-marine bartender who works at the bar owned by Calla’s mother, and he is smokin’. He’s sexy, honest, blunt, and a very straightforward guy. And while I really, really liked Jax (and his naughty, naughty ways) I didn’t LOVE him like I wanted to. It took a while for me to warm up to him. Jax just seemed a bit too shallow at first, so I was reserved when he was first introduced, but over time, I gradually became fonder of him. He’s hot, but what I liked most about Jax was how sweet he is to Calla. He shows her just how beautiful she truly is, despite, and even because of, her scars.

“You like me.”
His lips twitched. “Not a new flash, honey. I like you, knowing that the scars are a part of you.”
“But how?” It wasn’t the first time I asked him this.
“I’ve already told you how.” Both hands were back on my waist again, and my breath caught. “I think it’s past time for me to just show you.”

I couldn’t really connect with Calla in the beginning, although like with Jax, I ended up enjoying her character as the book went on. I understood how her scars made her feel self-conscious and my heart went out to her, but I wanted her to stand up for herself more, to believe in herself more. But as Calla spends more time back in her hometown, working alongside Jax at the bar to make some money, she does gain more strength within herself. I really liked reading about her character growth–she learns not to hide her scars or hide away from those who care for her.

Calla and Jax together equals hotness!! I will say that Jax is definitely one of the hotter JLA boys, even though he’s not my favorite of her male characters. Jax gets to be Calla’s first for a lot of things, and I adored the two of them together. They do have bumps along the way, so it’s not an easy relationship between them. I liked that they had bumps, even though I wanted to strangle the two of them sometimes, because they two of them made a really great couple.

There’s also some action and suspense in Stay with Me, which I wasn’t expecting, or at least expecting that much of. Because of Calla’s drug addict mother, Calla and Jax are thrust into some dangerous stuff–some of which include threats, guns, drugs, drug dealers, the whole shebang. Some of the it was intense, some of it was predictable, but overall, I really enjoyed this suspenseful aspect of the book.

Stay with Me was another great addition to the Wait for You series. It definitely has a different feel than the other books, but it worked well with the story and characters. Calla and Jax’s story was so much fun to read–it’s not my favorite of the series, but I still really enjoyed it! It’s a fairly long book, but in between the hot chemistry between Jax and Calla, and the action and suspense, the pages flew by for me. Fans of the series won’t be disappointed with this next installment.

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

Reading Order: Wait for You series

#1 ~ Wait for You: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#1.5 ~ Trust in Me: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Be with Me: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Stay with Me: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#4 ~ Fall with Me: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#4.5 ~ Dream of You: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (June 23, 2015)
#5 ~ Forever with You: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (Sept. 29, 2015)
#6 ~ Fire in You: Goodreads (2016)

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • J.Lynn Goodreads • Jennifer L. Armentrout Goodreads

19Sep2014

Review: Unlit Star by Lindy Zart

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Unlit Star by Lindy Zart
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: August 20th 2014
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

We are not guaranteed anything, not even this life.

Rivers Young is the popular guy untouchable by reality. He is like a star—bright, consuming, otherworldly. The thing about stars, though, is that they eventually fall, and he is no different.

He falls far and he falls hard.

Delilah Bana is the outcast enshrouded in all of life’s ironies. Alone, in the dark, like dusk as it falls on the world. When Rivers hits the ground, she is the night that catches him. In the darkness, they meld into something beautiful that shines like the sun.

Only, the greater the star is, the shorter its lifespan.

It is true that no one can save you, no one but yourself. And sometimes… even you cannot save you, no matter how much you wish it was untrue. Sadly, some things are not meant to be saved.

Wow. WOW. This book was simply stunning.

Unlit Star was beautiful, captivating, real, and heartbreaking. Honestly, it was nothing I expected, and I’m glad I went into this pretty blindly. This is the type of book that will move your heart–it stays with you for a long, long time, and I’m so glad to have read it.

First off, a big shoutout to my girl Tushara for recommending Unlit Star to me! After she messaged this to me, how could I NOT read it!?

LACE!!!! OMG I HAVE FOUND A BOOK, THAT IS RIGHT TRUMPING ANY FEELINGS I HAVE EVER HAD FOR ANY OTHER BOOK
SIGH
ITS LIKE ON PAR WITH TFIOS AND SLAMMED AND ALL THOSE
ITS BEAUTIFUL
AND I JUST SPENT THE LAST 15 MINUTES BAWLING MY EYES OUT BECAUSE OF THE LAST 15% OF IT

Obviously I had to read it immediately!

The first thing that captivated me about Unlit Star was the writing. All I can say is that it is flawless. I am so in love with Lindy Zart’s words–my favorite part of this book is truly how well-written it is. Even though the characters didn’t have me hooked straight away, I was still utterly mesmerized by the writing. The humor, the angst, the intensity… all of these were so powerfully evoked through this author’s words. Just… read this book, okay? I promise you won’t regret it.

The beginning was a bit slow–I wasn’t too sure how to feel about the characters at first. But gradually, as I got to know more about Delilah and Rivers, I started to fall in love with their story. Delilah has just graduated high school and has taken a job during the summer working at the Young’s house. She’s a sort of housekeeper, if you will. And the boy who lives there happens to be Rivers Young, who went to the same high school as Delilah. Rivers was the popular, all-star athlete at school, full of charisma and charm, while Delilah was the outcast, bullied by Rivers’s then-girlfriend. But a few months before graduation, Rivers was in a boating accident, leaving him with a limp and scars on his body, and ruining his chances of going to college on a football scholarship.

Delilah and Rivers are two very different people. Delilah is the type of girl who wants to make the best and most out of life. She’s real, but not pessimistic about the world. She’s able to see the joy in life. The post-accident Rivers is the type of guy who only sees what he’s lost. But when Delilah looks at Rivers, she doesn’t see his lost opportunities or the things that were taken away from him–she sees the life that still flows in his veins, the fact that he survived the accident, that Rivers is still alive.

How do you break through the black and into the light? How does a boy who used to have everything decide he has something to fight for when he’s lost all he’s known? What will be strong enough to pull him from the waters of his dark abyss of reality? I think he has to do it himself, but he has to want to. I also think it’s the scars of his heart that need to be mended, not the superficial outside one.

Rivers and Delilah studiously ignore each other, even though Delilah works at his house nearly everyday. But that changes when Rivers’s parents have to leave town, putting Delilah in charge of the house… and Rivers. Now they have to be around each other 24/7, and Delilah isn’t up for being around a guy who’s angry at the world. So she forces him to open up, to go outside, to try to be happy with his life. But she never expected to end up falling for this boy.

It wasn’t easy to like Rivers–at least, not at first. He’s broody and moody, he doesn’t talk, he doesn’t do anything. He basically mopes around the house, feeling sorry for himself and his legs. But Delilah, this awesome, sweet girl, is able to slowly pull him out of his misery. And it turns out Rivers is actually the sweetest, most amazing guy ever. He’s funny, smart, beautiful, a little self-deprecating, but overall, he’s a scrumptious package.

Rivers is a perfect mix of clouds and sunshine, openness and hardness. He’s an impeccable, yet inconsistent being of all that is good and all that is not.

My heart… it was just feeling so much during this book! So much happiness for Delilah and Rivers slowly opening up to each other, slowly falling in love. But my heart was also aching for Rivers, who just doesn’t see the amazing potential in him, even with his bad legs. He doesn’t see that he’s still gorgeous or that he can still do great things that don’t have to be football. But slowly, he stops feeling sorry for himself. All thanks to Delilah Bana, a girl he never noticed in high school, but now is all he can see.

“I used to fit in with the athletes, right? If I didn’t know anything else, I knew that. You never fit in anywhere. Now I know why. There is no way to put you into a category when there is no one way to define you. You’re like…” He pauses as he looks at me, smiling when he says, “Sunshine. And rain. Flowers. You’re everywhere, everything. The wind. The stars.
“…It’s like… you’re the complete embodiment of life. Your laugh, your sense of humor, your personality–you just–you put all of you into everything you do. You know? Even your heart…” He inhales deeply. “You’re a beautiful person, Delilah Bana.”

I just… Awwwwww. River just has the perfect way with words to make you smile and clutch your heart.

Delilah and Rivers together is just perfection. I adored these two–they’re sweet and romantic, but also funny and witty with each other. They learn from each other, they lean on each other. They’re just a wonderful couple I loved reading about.

But it’s not exactly an easy HEA for them. There are hints from the author, some foreshadowing that something heart-wrenching is going to happen. I don’t want to say anything because of spoilers, but I will say that Lindy Zart will no doubt break your heart. There are things to this story you might not be happy about, that I normally wouldn’t be, but it just fit right with this book. I couldn’t have imagined another, better, story for Rivers and Delilah.

“You woke my soul up and the rest of me followed.”

Unlit Star is just a beautiful story. It has lovable characters you grow to care for so much, it has humor to make these characters feel real, and it has an unforgettable way of storytelling. I will definitely be reading more books from this author!

Also by Renée Carlino

Roomies: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Take Care, Sara: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Smother: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Within This Frame: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Steady as the Snow Falls: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

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16Sep2014

Blog Tour + Review & Giveaway: Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh

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

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for ROCK ADDICTION by Nalini Singh!

Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh
Series: Rock Kiss #1 (full reading order below)
Release Date: September 9th 2014

A bad boy wrapped in a sexy, muscled, grown-up package might be worth a little risk…

Molly Webster has always followed the rules. After an ugly scandal tore apart her childhood and made her the focus of the media’s harsh spotlight, she vowed to live an ordinary life. No fame. No impropriety. No pain. Then she meets Zachary Fox, a tattooed bad boy rocker with a voice like whiskey and sin, and a touch that could become an addiction.

A one-night stand with the hottest rock star on the planet, that’s all it was meant to be…

Fox promises scorching heat and dangerous pleasure, coaxing Molly to extend their one-night stand into a one-month fling. After that, he’ll be gone forever, his life never again intersecting with her own. Sex and sin and sensual indulgence, all with an expiration date. No ties, no regrets. Too late, Molly realizes it isn’t only her body that’s become addicted to Fox, but her heart…

Buy Links:
Amazon Ebook • Ebook Paperback • iTunes • Kobo

I am a HUGE, blubbery mess of a fan for Nalini Singh. Her paranormal romances are to die for (especially the Psy-Changeling series), and when I heard she was going to write a contemporary book, a ROCK STAR book no less, I absolutely had to read it. Cue me jumping for joy when I got Rock Addiction in my hands. I should mention though, for fans of Nalini’s PNR or Urban Fantasy books, Rock Addiction has a completely different feel – of course, it’s contemporary, so it should feel different! But just because Rock Addiction was different doesn’t mean I loved it less. I thoroughly enjoyed it – Nalini’s venture into the rock star world was engaging, hot, addicting, and overall a fun read!

Molly Webster is a good girl – she’s a librarian and a virgin. She wants nothing to do with drama for the rest of her life, because incidents in the past involving her parents have left her hurt and scarred on the inside. Unfortunately, the moment she meets Zachary Fox, her life isn’t so simple anymore. When Fox and Molly see each other, there’s insta-lust, but when it’s done well, I have no problem with it. And the instant attraction between Fox and Molly worked for the story and for me. And there’s the whole ‘opposites attract’ thing as well – Molly is a quiet, shy type of girl, while Fox is the lead singer of a world-renowned band.

He didn’t believe in fantasy shit like destiny or fate or the biggest con of all–love–but he knew himself. And he knew what he wanted; to tug her to him with his hand fisted in her hair, brand her with his mouth, warn every other male in the room that she was off-limits. But the instant he did that, he’d make her front-page news when he wanted her all to himself.
Private.
Alone.
No cameras.
No lights.
No fucking interruptions.

I usually wouldn’t like heroines like Molly, but somehow, Nalini Singh was able to make me care for this girl. I didn’t completely love her, but she felt real to me. Like her thoughts and actions and reactions were understandable, even if I didn’t like them sometimes. Fox brought a lot more feelings out of me than Molly – I was just shy of loving him completely. He’s the perfect rock star – he’s sexy, charismatic, an alpha-male, knows what he wants. And what he wants is Molly. He’s never felt an attraction toward anyone like he has for her, and he wants to see where it could lead.

“You know when you get the whisper of a melody in your head, or the murmur of a song? And you have the gut feeling that if you could just hear the rest of it, just capture the music”–the need an ache as frustrating as it was piercing–”you’d have something fucking amazing?”
Noah nodded.
“Yeah well, that’s what it feels like with Molly.” The most compelling whisper of his life. “I’m not about to walk away from that.”

Fox is refreshing in the way that he’s the one who wants more. Molly is resistant to forming any sort of relationship past their one-night-stand (which definitely heated up the pages), but Fox is compelling and irresistible. We see from his thoughts that he falls fast and hard for Molly, and I loved that Fox is the one who has to convince Molly that the two of them work. Theirs is a romance that is slow, sexy, warm, heartwarming, and real. Despite the whole rock star thing, these two characters felt very real to me, which made it so easy to be swept away by their story.

Fox’s eyes held her own, a passionate possessive fire in their depths. “No half measures, no regrets.”
“No half measures,” she vowed, her pulse a staccato beat and her heart on her sleeve. “No regrets.”
Fox’s kiss branded her, his body imprinting on her cells.

What I loved best about Rock Addiction was the fact that the drama wasn’t the over-the-top kind of drama. As problems rise for Molly and Fox, none of the it felt like too much – it wasn’t drama for drama’s sake. Each problem for this couple felt integral for the story, and was necessary for them to overcome so they could reach a happily ever after. Fox and Molly openly communicated (another refreshing thing) and I was able to connect with them easily.

Within Molly and Fox’s romance, there’s humor as well as the bromances between Fox and the other members of Schoolboy Choir. I loved that everything went well together, that nothing felt out of place with this book. I just really enjoyed Rock Addiction – I’m glad to have read it. And I’m incredibly excited to read the other books in the series!

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