Kota & Iva's Author Advent Event - Day 16

About Belle

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.

Friend-Zoned is the first in the Friend-Zoned series. Keep an eye out for this cheeky author.

Belle's Titles

Goodreads

My name is Michelle.

People call me Shelly. Or Shell. Or Mish. Even Em.

Really, they call me whatever the hell they want because, truthfully, I’m a pushover.

I’m not one of those girls.

You know?

Those pretty girls who are sweet and confident.

Not even close.

I’m plain as white cotton panties. In short, I’m invisible.

What does this have to do with anything?

Nothing, really, but my story is about how I met my neighbour, Ty.

You see, my neighbour is a gigolo.

*******

Goodreads

Emmanuel 'Lee' Batiste has lived in seclusion for most of his long life. At seven hundred years old he has decided the time has come to hide in broad daylight by moving to a heavily populated Detroit. 

Scarlet 'Squeak' Tate was never destined to be popular. From an awkward child grew an awkward woman. She is an accident waiting to happen.

When the two misfits meet it becomes clear there is more to them both than meets the eye.

Sucks to be you is a paranormal romance.

*******

Expected Release Date 3 January 2014
Goodreads

***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

*******

Goodreads  |  Amazon

Delilah “Lily” Flynn is used to her drab existence. Lily’s been living it for twenty two years. 
Her boring life is suddenly turned on its head when she’s rudely kidnapped from her bedroom.
Or so she thinks.

Nox Taylor is far too high up in his field to be assigned a babysitting job. 
There’s nothing more he wants than to complete his mission so he can be rid of the smartass tomboy, Lily.

Day after day, Nox watches Lily and her strange ways. She’s unlike any woman he’s ever met. 
Getting close to the girl is purely for her own protection…right?

Lily never imagined she’d make her first real friends in captivity. 
What lengths would she go through to keep them?

Check out Kota's 4 Heart Review of Willing Captive

*******

Goodreads  |  Amazon

Nikolai Leokov never thought he'd fall in love with the only girl he's ever befriended. 

Valentina Tomic has issues with commitment after the ultimate betrayal. 

When Tina decides to make broody Nik's day better, she never thought she would end up friends with the hard man. 

Nik has never had a woman be so affectionate to him without expecting something in return. 

Nik and Tina cordially invite you to read Friend-zoned. 

A story of friendship, humour and love.

*******

Goodreads  |  Amazon

Asher 'Ghost' Collins and Natalie Kovac shared a passionate night together. One neither of them can forget.

So why is it so hard for them to be around each other?

With no hope of the two getting along they decide to go their separate ways. And somehow end up closer than they've ever been.

Will friendship ever be enough for the pair?

Belle's Social Media Links

Goodreads  | Amazon  |  Facebook 

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Thou Shalt Not by JJ Rossum **Release Day Promo**

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Synopsis

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.

Teaser

She was looking down into the water.

"You know, if I knew you better I would probably push you in," she said very nonchalantly, as if letting me know the water temperature.

"If I knew you better, I would probably beat you to it," I replied.

She turned to me, her eyes full of mischievous energy.

"Oh really?"

Her hands quickly went up and grabbed my shoulders, and mine instinctively grabbed her waist. I could feel her grip tighten when I touched her, and her eyes widened.

"If I go in, you are going in with me," I said, shuffling my feet closer to the edge.

Her hands moved along my shoulders and her feet edged closer to mine.

"I'm a grown woman," she said. "Threats involving water don't scare me."

Her bottom lip curled up under her teeth as she smiled, repeating what I had said earlier. Or mocking me, perhaps.

I tightened my grip on her hips and flinched, pretending I was about to throw her in.  She gasped slightly, hands grabbing my shoulders tightly again. Her hips arched forward and she leaned up on her toes as if in reflex.

"I thought you weren't scared," I said, pulling her closer to me. "People usually don't gasp when they are ready for what's about to happen."

She was less than a foot from me, her face getting much closer to mine.

"It depends on what's happening," she said, looking up into my eyes.

I wasn't thinking about throwing her into the water anymore. Everything within me wanted to pull her tightly in and kiss her right there, in front of the pool in the house her husband bought with all the millions of dollars he had made throughout his career. Kiss her on the spot where he probably threw numerous parties. Kiss her on the lips I wished were mine, and not his.

The look in her eyes told me she wanted the same. At least I thought they did. I hadn't been in a position where I felt like this for someone in a long time. Thankfully, my hands were around her waist or I surely would have been able to feel them get clammy, nervous, like a high school kid on his first date with the prom queen he never thought he could get.

She is calculating, remember? I thought to myself. If she hadn't wanted it to get to this point she never would have asked you over to her house. She wants this as much as you do.

I wasn't sure which shoulder angel was feeding me that line but whoever it was, I knew they were right.

My hands pulled her closer until her feet were between mine; our legs and waists touching.

"You have really strong shoulders," she said. Her voice was soft and she tilted her head up toward mine when she spoke.

Do it, I told myself. Kiss her.

My heart was racing, and I could hear the beating in my ears. My hands moved up her body and found her neck. My fingers laced in her hair behind her head and I pulled her up.

Praise from Tarryn Fisher

Salty. This book is salty. There is no sweet. You'll be hard pressed to find a unicorn. It is sexy and frustrating. I grow so tired of "perfect" steamy hero's. I don't like perfect. I like my men a little nerdy and aggressive. Luke is way nerdy. We have a lot of male perspective books coming out, but most are written by women. I'm really wondering at this point if we are getting it right. As for the actual storyline...I was riveted. Hero is playing with married woman fire. He has a hot, little blonde on the back burner. I didn't know who to root for. The author's writing style is what I'll praise most. It's so different. Polished. And I love being in a man's head. They're simple, but damn are they dirty. I.LOVE.THIS.BOOK. 

Bonus Chapter at the end of Thou Shalt Not

After you finish Thou Shalt Not, you will be able to briefly reunite with Caleb and Olivia from Tarryn Fisher’s Love Me With Lies series as she gives us one last glimpse into their life.  

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.

Social Media Links

Facebook  |  Goodreads

Purchase Links

Amazon  US  |  Amazon UK  |  

Barnes & Noble  |  Smashwords

Giveaway 

10 e-book copies of Thou Shalt Not 

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Enslaved by the Ocean by Bella Jewel **Release Blitz**

Title: Enslaved By the Ocean

Author: Bella Jewel

Expected Release Date: December 9, 2013

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Hosted by: Love Between the Sheets

 

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Buy the Book

Amazon US  |   Amazon UK  |  Amazon AU  

  Amazon Canada  |  Barnes & Noble   |   Kobo

Synopsis

Indigo is running, she has no other choice. She's done something bad, and there only way to escape it, is to flee her home, and her country. She sets out on a luxury Yacht, to take her to another country with her best friend Eric. But she runs into a problem. The Yacht catches fire. She ends up stranded in the ocean, terrified, and scared of the uncertain. Until they show up. The pirates. Terrified, Indigo and Eric have to face the reality that this might be the end for them. These are pirates, they are the criminals of the ocean. What chance have they got of surviving this nightmare? Then she lays eyes on Hendrix. He's the Captain, he's gorgeous, rugged, and mean. He's planning on keeping her to repay his debt to another man, by selling her. Now Indigo has a crazy ex after her, as well as a pirate she can't seem to get out of her head. Come on this heart wrenching, dark, angsty and dangerous adventure as two people so opposite, find something so beautiful.
 

Excerpt

“No,” I scream, shoving him so hard he takes two steps back. “I won’t listen to you. All you’re going to do is make me feel incomplete. Do you know that you can do that? Make someone feel so utterly worthless? You touched me like I mattered, and yet you look at me like I’m a sale. I won’t do it. I don’t deserve it. I don’t…” He’s moving toward me before I can finish, and before I know what’s happening he grips my shoulder and jerks me forward, crushing his lips down on mine. My world stops. My legs give way. Hendrix wraps his arms around my waist, holding me up before parting my shocked frozen lips with his tongue. It only takes a moment for me to respond. My entire body is tingling with warmth, my heart is thumping, and my stomach is full of butterflies. I open my mouth to him, and I let him slide his tongue inside. I connect my tongue with his, and finally, I get to taste him. It’s been worth the wait. His lips, his tongue, his mouth: it’s like heaven. The feeling of his stubble on my cheeks is exactly as I imagined.

 

 

About the Author

Bella Jewel is an Aussie girl through and through. She spent her life in Western Australia, growing up in many different areas of the state. She now currently lives in Perth with her husband, children and mass amounts of pets. She's crazy, fun, outgoing and friendly. Writing is her passion, she started at the young age of 18 but finally got the courage up to publish, and her first novel Hell's Knights was released in August 2013.

Connect with the Author

Facebook | Website | Goodreads

 

 

Giveaway

(2) $50 Amazon Gift Cards

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Kota & Iva's Author Advent Event - Day 17

About Lola

Lola Stark lives in Australia, Is an at home mummy with no filter raising a hoard of minions and a husband who sometimes appears not to have grown up. Lola has loved to read for as long as she can remember. When not wrangling the family she can be found sitting at her computer , writing, facebooking or just generally messing around.

Upcoming Author of 'Needles Kiss' series. A sexy contemporary romance/erotica series. Stay tuned for updates on Book one 'Tattered Love's Scarlett and Mace's story.

Here's to tatted up ladies and hard as nails men !

With all things going as planned there will be 4 books to this first series with the possibility of another spin off series to follow.

Tattered Love (Needles Kiss 1)

Synopsis

When ex-Special Ops bad-ass Mace walks into Needle's Kiss tattoo parlour, he never expected to find the girl who would turn his life upside down.

Hard as nails Scarlett has been unlucky in love: she’s been burnt, chewed up and spat out. Reluctant to have another relationship, can she keep her wits about her when hot-as-sin Mace walks into her tattoo parlor? Or will he break her down and leave his mark within her ink?

What starts out as a little fun, turns into something so much more.

Can Scarlett look beyond Mace's devastating past or will his demons come back to haunt them both?

Content warning: contains steamy, anywhere-goes sex, an alcohol induced embarrassing night out and two headstrong lovers taken on a whirlwind of crazy.

Check out Kota's  4 heart Review here

Links

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK  |  Barnes & Noble  

Conflicted Love (Needle's Kiss #2) 

Release date early January 2014 

Cover reveal Dec 10th. 

Synopsis

(Conflicted Love is book #2 in the Needle's Kiss series and should be read AFTER Tattered Love to fully grasp the story.)

Trip’s life motto is simple: get in, get off, get out. His lifestyle works for him, that is until he finds himself in an unexpected situation with the one girl he can't seem to get out of his mind.

Teeny has been strong for too long. One amazing crazy night, with her best friend's cocky colleague, leaves her with more than just unwanted feelings and cravings she just can’t seem to quench.

She's knocked up.

He's freaked out. 

Life is about to get crazy for two people who can't stand to be close, yet can't seem to pull apart. Tension and confusion turn into mood swings and midnight snacks. How can things ever go back to simple times when every direction leads to chaos?

Add it to Goodreads

Destry (Hard and Rough #1) 

Release date : To Be Advised. 

Synopsis

Rancher Destry Reeves is your typical country boy; he believes in hard work and the easy life. None of which he recognises in Amelia Highsmith.

When a chance encounter involving a cow, a truck and a dark Texan night puts the two on a collision course, it's not long before the fireworks begin and the simple life is turned upside down.

The last thing Amelia expects is for a brute of a cowboy to get in the way of her new life. She's left behind a world of high class dinners and city lights in an effort to escape a life she never wanted. Amelia finds herself in a world so far removed from home that it becomes impossible to break free without finding herself first.

Drawn together by an inexplicable attraction, Destry and Amelia must decide if such an unlikely pairing can ever survive

Add it to Goodreads

Lola's Social Media Links

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Pinterest  |  Facebook

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Fighting Redemption by Kate McCarthy with Giveaway

Title: Fighting Redemption

Author: Kate McCarthy

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: December 2, 2013

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Synopsis

Ryan Kendall is broken. He understands pain. He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world, and from himself.

At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard he fights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.

Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.

This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.

Excerpt

The call disconnected before she could reply, and she tossed the phone beside her with a sigh. Pushing up off the bed, she walked towards her wardrobe. Catching movement from the corner of her eye, she turned her head and jolted. Ryan was leaning casually against the doorframe, his arms folded. Licking his lips, he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

“Ryan. You scared me.” She reached for the top she’d tossed on her corner chair a few minutes ago and gave him her back.

Fin felt him come up behind her and she shivered. He reached around, grabbed the shirt from her hands and tossed it on the floor. Suddenly breathless, she looked at it, then at his hands where they came to rest on her stomach.

He was an asshole for doing this to her, but her door was ajar. When Ryan heard her voice and saw her lying on her bed in nothing but lacy pink underwear, he couldn’t stop himself. How did she manage to look so innocent and so sexy all at the same time?

His lids lowered as he looked down over her shoulder, watching his hands as they skimmed up the smooth, taut skin of her belly to cup her breasts firmly.

Her body trembled as he rubbed his thumbs across her nipples. He felt them harden beneath the flimsy lace of her bra.

“Fin,” he breathed, running one hand down along the inner edges of her tanned thigh. Fuck. Her legs were smooth and warm, and he wanted them wrapped around him as he sank himself deep inside her.

Burying his head in her neck, Ryan shifted his hand to cup the pretty lace panties between her thighs and took a deep, shuddering breath. God, he shook with the need to taste her.

“Ryan,” she moaned.

With his other hand, he fisted the soft strands of her hair and yanked her head back, exposing the line of her throat, and he fell on it—sucking and biting the sweet skin until he was unbearably hard.

A tap came at the bedroom door and they both froze. “Fin? Are you heading out soon or eating here first?” Jake called out.

“I-I’ll be right out,” she stammered and took a step forward out of Ryan’s arms. She turned around, meeting his eyes.

“Okay,” Jake called back.

Ryan’s blood pulsed so hard it was a roar in his ears as they stared at each other wordlessly. After a beat of silence, she tore her eyes away and opened the wardrobe door.

“Are you happy now?” she hissed as she grabbed a pair of jeans from the shelves.

His eyes on her ass, he muttered, “What?”

She threw the jeans at him and he caught them when they hit him square in the chest. “This. Us. Yes, okay? I want you. Is that what you want to hear? That I dream of you too?” she choked out. “Your hands on me, inside of me, and I ache too.”

Ryan took a step towards her.

“Don’t.” She snatched the jeans out of his hands and tugged them on.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

Fin turned, rummaging for a top. She pulled one off a hanger and tugged it on furiously. “You’re sorry. I’m sorry. Everybody’s sorry. Well it’s just one sad, fucking sorry situation, isn’t it?”

Christ, Fin was a fiery inferno when she was mad, and it had his dick swelling even harder. “Fin, I—”

“Enough!” She jabbed a finger in his chest. “There’s hurt in there. I know it. You know it, but you’re not going to move on from it until you let that shit out. Whatever you’re doing now isn’t working. Own it, Ryan. Stop letting it own you.” With that she brushed passed him and opened the bedroom door. She looked at him over her shoulder before stalking away.

Kota's Review

Kate McCarthy writes this story of Ryan and Finlay (Fin).  The prologue starts in the present tense, and the book is essentially Fin telling a story – and we follow their path from their first meeting, back when Fin was just 10 years old.  Ryan is that little bit older, and makes firm friends with Fin’s brother Jake.  We follow them through school, college, and into the Army.  We meet their friends and significant others along the way and we get sucked right into the intense connection Ryan and Fin have always had.

Fin is an affectionate geeky, clumsy kind of girl – she is sweetness personified and so very real and human that she is a pure gem.  Ryan is the broken boy that grows into a broken man, with many secrets that eat away at him for a very long time.  We meet Jake, who is like the best Big Brother any girl could want – and hey it helps that he has the hot best mate.  There’s Rachael, the best girlfriend someone like Fin could ever have, and the SAS team, with Kyle as a stand out!  The cast of this story are fantastic – right down to the parents and cousins.

As a fellow Aussie – I loved reading this story, as the humour and classic one liners were verbatim in my head, its like I was there hearing the guys or knowing I have said shit like that and it resonated with me.  As did so many elements of this story, most notably that I also fell in love with my brothers best mate when I was young..  it was so easy for me to see how Fin and Ryan grew to love each other in many ways.

Ok….  So I have to tell you, this blogging game has given me the opportunity to read and review some really impressive stories – the indie world is full of amazing talent.  I have to add Kate McCarthy to that list.  Never, and I mean never, have I had such a physical reaction to a story.  Sure I have sobbed like a baby – real ugly faced crying…. And YES – this one did it too!  (man it sucks when you can’t keep reading because you can’t actually see the words!)  

But with this book – as it progressed and for those that have read – you know exactly which parts would have triggered this…   I physically could not bring myself to read the pages.  I was talking to myself “I need to know what happens, but I can’t read it…  I don’t need to know if its that – no, I can’t know if Kate takes it there ….  Surely she wont take it there – but if you don’t read it – you wont know”…  This was not just inner dialogue – I was having this conversation with myself – I would get my kindle ready – then my head would look away…   aaarrrrrgggghhhhhh the most frustrating, and purely emotional reaction I have ever had…   I loved every moment of that internal struggle…   and then….  When I read it – oh wow….  Did not see that coming!!!!

Kate McCarthy, thank you for not making me read an Australian Author’s book, set in Australia, written in Australian slang and think – oh man, we look so ridiculous..   or ugh how bogan is that!  You made me remember all of the reasons why Australia is amazing, and why we as people are special, and you told a universal story all garnered with our typical sense of humour, but with gut wrenching heartache.   Just for the physical reaction to these words on the page I would give this, but the journey, the emotion, the compassion and the empathy in which you tell every element of this story…  

Links

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Goodreads  

Author Bio

Kate McCarthy grew up in a small town outside of Port Macquarie, Australia. Raised in a house just a short walk to the beach, Kate enjoyed the peaceful, relaxed atmosphere and friendships that come from being raised in a friendly, small town area.

She now resides in Brisbane, Australia, a city in the state of Queensland where she works as an accountant, along with a sideline wedding cake business and her writing. 

She is married with two children, has two dogs and house in the suburbs, and a pile of friends and family dotted all over the country that help keep her sane.

When she’s not busy running after naughty kids, filthy dogs, crunching numbers, piping buttercream and writing books, you can find her curled up in bed in the early hours of the morning reading new books and re-reading old favourites. Her favourite books are the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward in which she longs to eventually join the brotherhood and change her name to Phierce Mutha.

Kate's Social Media Links

Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Website

Giveaway

Signed Copies + Ryan's dog tags (pic attached below), ebooks, gift cards

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kota & Iva's Author Advent Event - Day 18

About T. Torrest

T. Torrest is a New Adult fiction writer from the U.S. She has written many books, but prays that only a handful of them will ever see the light of day. Her stories are geared toward readers of any age that know how to enjoy a good laugh and a dreamy romance.

She likes pina coladas and getting caught in the rain. She's not much into health food, but she does enjoy talking about herself in the third person. A lifelong Jersey girl, she currently resides there with her husband and two boys.

Remember When

Synopsis

Years before Trip Wiley could be seen on movie screens all over the world, he could be seen sitting in the desk behind me in my high school English class.

This was back in 1990, and I cite the year only to avoid dumbfounding you when references to big hair or stretch pants are mentioned. Although, come to think of it, I am from New Jersey, which may serve as explanation enough. We were teenagers then, way back in a time before anyone could even dream he’d turn into the Hollywood commodity that he is today.

In case you live under a rock and don't know who Trip Wiley is, just know that these days, he’s the actor found at the top of every casting director’s wish list. He’s incredibly talented and insanely gorgeous, the combination of which has made him very rich, very famous and very desirable.

And not just to casting directors, either.

I can’t confirm any of the gossip from his early years out in Tinseltown, but based on what I knew of his life before he was famous, I can tell you that the idea of Girls-Throwing-Themselves-At-Trip is not a new concept.

I should know. I was one of them.

And my life hasn’t been the same since.

Check out Kota's 4 Heart Review

Remember When 2

Synopsis

You know how sometimes, your high school crush grows up to be an insanely famous movie star? Okay, probably not. But I do. ~Layla Warren

Back in high school, Trip Wiley’s fanbase only encompassed the denizens of the nothing little suburb of Norman, New Jersey. 

Ten years later, all that is about to change.

In the summer of 2000, Layla Warren is enjoying her career as a journalist in New York City (well, sort of), while Trip spends most of his time grabbing Hollywood by the balls. In the days before what will turn out to be his skyrocketing fame, they’ll find themselves confronted with some life-altering choices. 

Remember When 2 is the second story in an NA romance trilogy. It will bring you back to that exuberant and riotous time of life in your twenties when you struggled to figure out your place in the world and the person you were meant to be…

…and the person you were meant to be with.

Check out Kota's 4 and a half heart review

Remember When 3

Synopsis

"I’d spent too long in limbo. 

It was time to put The California Plan back into effect."

~Layla Warren 

I’ve been in love with Trip Wiley since I was sixteen years old.

Yep. That Trip Wiley. 

Academy award-winning actor, known philanthropist, People’s Sexiest Man Alive two years running…

Yeah. 

It’s not like I’m some delusional stalker-fan. It just so happens that he was my high school sweetheart back in 1991.

In the years since, he’s simply been The One That Got Away. 

We just can’t seem to get on the same page at the same time.

Our timing may have sucked, but the feelings had already been confirmed. Years ago.

At least his were.

He doesn’t know that I had chosen to love him back. 

I need to fix that.

And I need to do it now.

Stalker Links

Facebook  |  Goodreads  |  Website  |  Email

Purchase Links

Amazon 

Remember When  |  Remember When 2   

  Remember When 3

Barnes & Noble 

Remember When  |  Remember When 2  

  Remember When 3

Remember When is currently on sale for .99.

'All of your Christmases will come at once if you win'   Giveaway

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No Turning Back by Casey Peeler with Giveaway

Synopsis

After getting involved with Dylan, the bad boy of the Dixon High Swim team, Charley decides to stay close to home for college. It’s just safer that way. Later, she realizes it’s a mistake, just like dating Dylan. She decides to put the past behind her and leave the small hick town of Grassy Pond. There is only one problem; she makes this decision three weeks before the fall semester begins.

Charley packs up her Honda and heads to Southern College. On the morning she’s about to leave, Cash walks back into her life. He has been her best friend since they were four and is the only one who knows the REAL Charley. She leaves her farm in Grassy Pond with all kinds of “what if” questions.

Charley decides to live her college career to the fullest. She finds a great group of friends, joins the swim team, and meets a guy named Joe. He’s got eyes that make ya wanna melt!

At college, she encounters a new problem. Charley has been away from home for only forty-eight hours before she breaks the two promises she made to herself. Will she be able to overcome her past? Find new love? What will happen with Cash now that he is back in her life? Will she find what she is wanting in Jackalope Joe? How will her first semester of college end? Joe, Cash, or alone?

Book Trailer Video

 

Excerpt

Hey, Char, while Cash ain’t in here. Where the hell am I staying tonight? I mean, I don’t want to intrude on y’all.”

“Piper, you can stay in there because you know as well as I do nothing is going to happen.” She looks at me like whatever.

About that time Cash opens the truck door and climbs in. We make our way to campus, up the stoop, and into Kluft. I am exhausted and need a shower to recoup before Hank’s tonight. As we reach the top step, I can hear Caroline, Tori, Georgia, Jenny, Anna, and Cassie in hall. They are singing to “Thrift Shop”blaring over the radio and dancing like fools in the hallway.

Cash glances at me, “Oh lawd, what have I got myself into?” I just shrug my shoulders and pull him down the hall. All the girls take their turn putting moves on him, and of course, Anna has something to say. “Hey, Cowboy, I ain’t ever rode a cowboy before.” 

With a wink Cash answers back, “Sorry, Sweetheart, but I ain’t a cowboy. I’m a homegrown country boy that only has eyes for one little lady,” as he stares into my blue eyes.

Iva's Review

A night he won't let her forget.

Charley has dreams of finishing high school and going Division 1 in swimming. It's a dream made even more possible by the fact that her boyfriend, Dylan, has the same goal. 

But all of that is shattered by one night.

Charley loses her boyfriend, but regains her very best friend Cash. Cash has been Charley's neighbour since forever and her bestest buddy for just as long.  Charley's relationship with Cash faltered while she was dating Dylan, but he has always been there for her and now she needs Cash to keep her from falling further apart. 

After graduating high school, Charley knows she needs to regain a little trust and independance in herself before she can settle down and become a country boys girlfriend and changes her college preference to be a little further away from the small country town and farm she grew up on. 

It's at college that she meets Joe, and can't help but be attracted to his surfer boy good looks and nice boy charm. A charm made even more possible to avoid when they are assigned to do a project together. Everything seems to be working out just as Charley wanted it to. Cash is still her rock, but Joe is also a comfort. She has made new friends, and kept her old. She has even started swimming again. But a pink envelope turns up in the mail and Charley realises he isn't going to let her forget that easily.

Casey Peeler's No Turning Back starts off with a bombshell and has you riveted to the page from there. It's written in first person, present tense and follows Charley as she tries to find herself again. The powerful beginning of the book has you continuing to read, all the way to the cliffhanger ending that will have you absolutely gobsmacked! 

As for the story, very little actually happens as Charley's inner rehabilitation is a very subtle undercurrent to what is being told. Instead you focus on the love triangle being created between Charley, Cash and Joe. Then there is that letter, and wow! Hooks firmly implanted! 

If I had any issues with the book it would be with a few episodes of dialogue where it comes across as detached rather than with the emotion it was meant to convey. There were also some (appropriately) shortened scenerios in the book that I found unintentionally comical because of how quickly it was told, though this just made me enjoy the book more.  I really liked the characters.

Charley seems like an honest country girl, who tries to give her best everyday. She knows that she needs to find herself again before she can find peace in love and she really gives herself the best chance to do that. I loved the little bit of vunerability she had and her determination to put the ghost of her past behind her.

Cash..(sigh!) Every girl should have a best friend like Cash. He allows Charley her freedom, but maintains his protective stance even from a distance. He is desirable, but also a comfort. He loves Charley, and understands her enough to not put his pain before her needs. Nor his desires. Despite this, I wasn't convinced of Cash being passionately in love with Charley. I felt he was a little bit "older brother" with some benefits of the kissing and hugging kind. He is lovely though.  Joe is Charley's security blanket at college. They very quickly form a strong aquaintance drizzled with lust, that blossoms into friendship and maybe something more. Joe is very similar to Cash in that he is caring and appears to want Charley to go at her own pace with their relationship. 

My main concern with the characters relationships was there was a little too much acceptance of the other guy's presence in Charley's life from both Cash and Joe. There didn't seem to be enough passion from the boys to claim what was theirs. I know that Charley would have run a mile if either Cash or Joe did come over all he-man, but a little bit more angst would have given the characters more authenticity.

Minor characters are well developed and are an important part in keeping the story going. In fact they are possibly the reason the book doesn't stagnate as Charley's quest to find herself and decide what she feels for each boy is fun, but slow. 

Casey Peeler's No Turning Back is an enjoyable read. It has a little bit of mystery, a little bit of lust and a whole lot of friendship and love. The book starts off with a bang, then finishes with an even greater one.  I am truly itching to read the next book in the series!

3 and a half hearts.

Author Bio

Casey Peeler grew up and still lives in North Carolina with her husband and daughter.

Her first passion is teaching students with special needs. Over the years, she found her

way to relax was in a good book.

After reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston her senior year

of high school and multiple Nicholas Sparks’ novels, she found a hidden love and

appreciation for reading.

Casey is an avid reader, blogger (Hardcover Therapy,) and now author. No Turning Back (Full Circle #1) is her debut novel releasing September 30th, Finding Charley (Full Circle #2) will release spring 2014.

Her goal is to one day be an author who is recognized nationwide like Jamie McGuire,

Colleen Hoover, Tiffany King, and Amanda Bennett.

When Casey isn’t reading, you can find her listening to country music, spending the day

at the lake, being a wife and dance mom, and spending time with friends and family.

Her perfect day consists of water, sand between her toes, a cold beverage, and a great

book!

Casey's Social Media Links

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