Cover Reveal:Shadows & Lies (Shadows, #1) by Eden Butler

Title: Shadows & Lies (Shadows, #1)

Author: Eden Butler

Genre: Romantic Suspense | Mystery

Expected Release Date: Late March 2015

Cover Designed by: Alleskelle @ http://www..alleskelle.com/

Synopsis

One lie can change your life.

A web of lies can destroy it.

Neil Ryan was a good Navy SEAL. He was an even better detective, but when an unmarked envelope lands on his desk, long-buried secrets are resurrected and Ryan questions everything he thought he knew about justice, including who killed his mother.

Alex Black is a distraction Ryan doesn’t need—she’s loud, obnoxious and a common thief, but her eyes are haunting, her lips irresistible and Ryan happens to love her filthy mouth.

Alex is also the only one able to help Ryan find the leads he's missing. She's the only one who can lead him to the one person who has the answers he seeks, but following her could cost Ryan everything. 

Secrets get told, lives get wrecked and in every shadow, the truth is hiding.

Alex felt like spin sugar—sweet, tangy and if you had too much, you’d walk away lightheaded. At that moment, I didn’t care. She came in my arms easy enough, her small body fussing to mine like her legs belonged around my waist, like her breasts should always be right against my ribs. Her tongue was strong, delicious and when I gripped her ass, falling back against the island, that strong muscle vibrated against my mouth, shaking in the groan, the wild growl of her voice.

My head burned from the sensation of her mouth along my neck, how she moved her hips, ground them against my aching dick like she wanted to free it, and I didn’t stop her, couldn’t when she held my face, devoured every damn inch of my mouth, my tongue like she owned it. Like she always would.

Eden Butler is an editor and writer of New Adult Romance and SciFi and Fantasy novels and the nine-times great-granddaughter of an honest-to-God English pirate. This could explain her affinity for rule breaking and rum. Her debut novel, a New Adult, Contemporary (no cliffie) Romance, “Chasing Serenity” launched in October 2013 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller.

When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, Eden edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.

She is currently living under teenage rule alongside her husband in southeast Louisiana. Please send help.

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Review: Hero by Samantha Young

The emotional and unforgettable new romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series.

Alexa Holland’s father was her hero—until her shocking discovery that she and her mother weren't his only family. Ever since, Alexa has worked to turn her life in a different direction and forge her own identity outside of his terrible secrets. But when she meets a man who’s as damaged by her father’s mistakes as she is, Alexa must help him.

Caine Carraway wants nothing to do with Alexa’s efforts at redemption, but it’s not so easy to push her away. Determined to make her hate him, he brings her to the edge of her patience and waits for her to walk away. But his actions only draw them together and, despite the odds, they begin an intense and explosive affair.

Only Caine knows he can never be the white knight that Alexa has always longed for. And when they're on the precipice of danger, he finds he’ll do anything to protect either one of them from being hurt again…

Buy Links

Amazon    ||    Barnes&Noble    ||   Kobo 

What I thought about Hero

Caine Carraway is a self-made man. Rising from a tragedy, he becomes a successful financial mogul in Boston. He's a colossal jerk, too. Alexa Holland is an extradordinary personal assistant and her past includes a link to Caine and when he finds out, he does something crazy and improbably and hires her to work for  him, even though he's been incredibly cruel and unprofessional to her. 

This story could have easily fallen into the billionaire-virgin variety, but it's really Alexa who is the star of this story. The story is told from her point of view, and she's had some bad stuff happen in her past, too. I found her to be very likable. She has a sense of rightness and I like how she dealt with Caine and his bullying ways. 

There weren't many surprises for me in this, it's the classic, "sex without a relationship" story that always ends up with someone falling in love. Even Caine's reasons for being so closed off weren't that much of a surprise, although I did wonder how someone as together as he appeared to be hadn't dealt with his feelings about his past, unless he was still engaging in the behavior. It made him appear weak and that was another blow to his attractiveness.  I just didn't find him appealing, but Alexa made up for him.  

This is was my first book from Samantha Young and I did like the writing style and the story kept me turning the pages until the end, so I'm rating this four solid stars. I'd read more from this author in the future. 

ARC provided for review.


About the Author

Samantha Young is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author from Stirlingshire, Scotland. She's been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Author and Best Romance 2012 for her international bestselling novel ON DUBLIN STREET and Best Romance 2014 for BEFORE JAMAICA LANE. ON DUBLIN STREET is Samantha's first adult contemporary romance series and has sold in twenty-eight countries.

For more information visit http://authorsamanthayoung.com

Review:Moment of Truth (Moments in Time:Book Two) by Karen Stivali

Synopsis

Collin expected to spend another summer fixing cars and working at the college pizzeria. Instead, he's living in a beach house on Fire Island, waiting tables at a hip seaside restaurant and, for the first time since he and Tanner got together, they can publicly be known as boyfriends. Being "out" takes some getting used to, but with the help of new and old friends, Collin is happier than he ever imagined. And more in love. But newfound freedom brings unexpected challenges, and when friends get flirty, old insecurities arise. Moments of doubt and jealousy threaten their happiness, and Collin and Tanner must confront the truth or risk losing it all.

Buy Links 

Dreamspinner Press:

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6066 

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TWO2XH8/

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TWO2XH8/ 

Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00TWO2XH8/ 

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-momentoftruth-1751880-149.html 

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moment-of-truth-karen-stivali/1121262738?ean=2940151483421

What I thought about Moment of Truth

Collin and Tanner spend the summer at the beach on Fire Island, their relationship growing. And with it comes some growing pains.   It's all Collin's story, how he grows up and learns to deals with some of the adult situations he's facing.  He doesn't always get it right and that made it interesting.

Karen Stivali got it right though.  I loved Collin's tale and the writing just pulled me into the story.  You know that feeling when you are reading, when everything fades away and you just fall into the story?  I had that feeling with this book.  I don't know if it will work that way for you, but it did for me.  

There's still a lot of heat between the boys, but in Moment of Truth they are no longer sequestered in the dorm room, so there are quite a few "firsts" for Collin along with a few challenges he has to work through.  And with him all the way is Tanner and I loved where they ended up.

At 113 pages, it's just the right size when you want a quick read with a whole lot of emotion, a heap of drama and a good dash of heat. Recommended.

ARC provided for review.


Haven’t read book 1 yet? It’s on sale for 99 cents until March 7^th!

Moment of Impact

Outside Collin Fitzpatrickís dorm room is a dangerous place. Beyond his door the students of his small, conservative college think heís straight, as does his Catholic family who'd disown him if they learned the truth.

Inside, he ís safe with his incredibly sexy roommate Tanner DíAmico. Their room makes a perfect place to hide away and fall in love. The moment they cross the line from roommates to lovers, Collin becomes caught between their heavenly passionate encounters and the hellish reality that someone might find out and destroy everything. 

Tanner ís not used to being so confined, and wants to show the world how much he loves Collin. But Collin ís not sure he ís ready for the impact stepping outside will make.

Buy Moment of Impact

• Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5855
• Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RO1Z6ZC/
• Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00RO1Z6ZC/
• Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00RO1Z6ZC/
• ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-momentofimpact-1700287-340.html

About the Author

Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies, and fictional British men. She's also the multiple award-winning author of contemporary and erotic romances. Her lifelong fascination with people has led her to careers ranging from hand-drawn animator, to party planner, to marriage and family counselor, but writing has always been her passion. Karen enjoys nothing more than following her characters on their journey toward love. Whether the couples are m/f or m/m, it’s guaranteed that Karen's novels are filled with food, friendship, love, and smoking hot sex—all the best things in life. 

When Karen isn’t writing (and often when she is), she can be found on Twitter attempting witty banter and detailing the antics of her fruit-loving cat, BadKitteh. She loves to hear from readers (and other writers), so don't hesitate to contact/follow/like her at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali 

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/KarenStivaliAuthor 

Website: http://karenstivali.com 

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/karenstivali 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/KarenStivali

E-mail: karenstivali@gmail.com

  

Cover Reveal:Better When He's Brave by Jay Crownover

We are swooning big time about this cover for 

Jay Crownover's BETTER WHEN HE'S BRAVE! 

BETTER WHEN HE’S BRAVE is a New Adult Contemporary Romance and is the 3rd book in The Point Series, published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins.  

It is due to be released on August 11^th!! 

 Pre-order now and be sure to grab the first two books, BETTER WHEN HE'S BAD and BETTER WHEN HE'S BOLD while you wait!

I love this series -- it's dark and gritty with bad boys that are real bad boys!  If you like your romances with a touch of darkness and a whole lot of steaminess, check out The Point!

 

Pre-Order Your Copy Today!

Amazon ** Barnes & Noble ** iTunes

About BETTER WHEN HE’S BRAVE:

In New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jay Crownover’s third novel in her sexy, thrilling Welcome to the Point series, a woman’s search for repentance leads her to the one man from her past she can’t forget as they join forces to save their city—and the explosive love neither can live without.

Titus King sees the world in black and white. Right and wrong. Which is why as a teenager he left behind the only family he’d ever known to make a better life for himself. Now a police detective in one of the worst cities in the country, he can’t deny his life has turned into a million different shades of gray. 

The new criminal element in The Point has brought vengeance and destruction right to Titus’s front door, and the difference between right and wrong is nothing compared to keeping those he loves alive. To add to his already strained moral compass, the beautiful and mysterious Reeve Black has made her way back to town, and she might be as dangerous to Titus as the guy trying to destroy the Point because he needs her—in more ways than one.

Reeve knows all about how ruthless this new threat to destroy The Point can be… and instead of running away, she wants to help. She has a lot to repent for and saving the city, plus the hot cop that she hasn’t been able to forget might just be the only way she can finally find some inner peace.

With an entire city poised on the brink of war, Titus and Reeve stand in the crossfire—and it will take two brave souls to fight for the ultimate love.

And don’t miss the first two books in The Point Series…

BETTER WHEN HE’S BAD, Book 1

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** iTunes

 

BETTER WHEN HE’S BOLD, Book 2

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** iTunes

  About Jay Crownover: 

 Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men and The Point series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.      

Website ** Blog ** Facebook ** Twitter

BETTER WHEN HE’S BRAVE Goodreads ** Jay Crownover Goodreads

 

Review: Nothing Like Paris with Guest Post from Amy Jo Cousins

Synopsis 

NOTHING LIKE PARIS (Bend or Break, Book Two)

Humble pie wasn’t supposed to taste this sweet.

Jack Tarkington’s life is in the toilet. He was supposed to be spending his junior year studying someplace cool like Paris or Rome. Instead, after taking out his anger on the campus “golden boy”, whose dad ripped off his parents, Jack is facing possible expulsion.

Sure, it’s all his own fault, but coming back to the small Iowa town he thought he’d escaped, after crowing about his admission to a prestigious school, has been a humbling experience.

When he runs into Miguel, Jack braces for backlash over the way he lorded it over his old friend and flame. Instead, Miguel offers him friendship—and a job at his growing farm-to-table store and café.

Against the odds, both guys bond over broken dreams and find common ground in music. But when Jack’s college gives him a second chance, he’s torn between achieving a dream that will take him far from home, and a love that strikes a chord he’ll never find anywhere else.

Warning: This book contains a humbled guy who’s on the brink of losing it all, a determined entrepreneur who seems to have it all together, apologies issued through banjo-picking duets, and two lovers who can play each other’s bodies like virtuosos.

Add it to your shelves at Goodreads!

Buy Links

Amazon ||   Barnes & Noble  || Kobo || 

 iBooks || Google Play  

Special post from Amy Jo Cousins 

One of the partsI liked the best in Nothing Like Paris has to do with bullying, so when Amy Jo offered to work with me on a blog post, I wanted to know more of her perspective about this behavior that is pervasive in school and the workplace. Here's Amy Jo Cousins talking about bullying and how it made its way into Nothing Like Paris. ~tradermare

I didn’t get bullied much as a kid. I was a strange mixture of sweet and smart and shy that somehow combined to let me fly under the radar for most of my school years. The one time another student did come after me, it felt almost cartoonish, with the demand to “Meet me after school by the bike racks” whispered with a glare that said, We’re gonna fight. I walked home a different way from school for the next week or two and the kid who wanted to fight me eventually forgot about the whole thing.

Kids who are bullied, especially LGBTQ kids, don’t get off that easily. Writing Jack as a guy who bullied another student, even though it didn’t take place until they were in college, made me extremely uncomfortable. In my original draft, he was a cartoonish figure, menacing and irredeemably awful, and I think that was mostly because I was so unhappy about what this guy was doing, I didn’t want him to have any redeeming thoughts or feelings. It was my very intelligent and perceptive editor who called out that caricature and asked for a little more depth.

When I started thinking about Jack and why he’d harassed Tom so relentlessly in OFF CAMPUS, I wasn’t inclined to cut him much slack. And even when I figured out why he’d done it (Tom’s dad was busted for running a massive Ponzi scheme that cost Jack’s family their savings, including the college money and Jack takes it out on Tom), I didn’t want to let Jack off the hook for his behavior. I don’t think anyone wakes up one day and is a totally changed person, all sins repented. I also didn’t think Jack was unaware of how crappy he was being when he harassed Tom, and I thought some of that guilt would make him extra defensive about his own bad choices most of the time.

Kicked out of school, Jack is back in his hometown, still pissed off and angry at the world. It takes the wake-up call of his former best friend and boyfriend, Miguel, to get Jack started on the road to reclaiming his basic decency. And the support of his former high school guidance counselor to help Jack address some of the addiction issues that are destroying his family and contributing to his anger. Finding a support system that holds him accountable for his actions is part of what sets Jack on the road to being a better person again.

I don’t believe you can just apologize for something like bullying and redeem yourself, though. Apologies are too easy, and too often insincere. Jack’s story arc in NOTHING LIKE PARIS requires him to do some serious work on his own issues, on his anger management and his family troubles. He also ends up finding a way to make up for some of the harm he’s caused, to balance his karmic scales, if you will. And in the end, he knows that he can’t do any of this for superficial reasons if he wants it to mean anything.

One of the things Jack does involves a gay-straight alliance at his old high school. GSANETWORK is a terrific group offering support and resources for students looking to start GSAs in high school. Check out their website for more information! And maybe we can bring a few more Jack’s back to the good side of the Force.

Thank you Amy Jo!

What I thought about Nothing Like Paris

In Nothing Like Paris, we get Jack Tarkington's story.  He's the guy that was disciplined by the school for giving Tom Worthington a hard time in Off Campus, the first book in the series, but Nothing Like Paris could easily read as a standalone.

When Jack left his hometown for school, he also left behind his best friend and boyfriend, Mike who now runs a farm-to-table store in the small town.  Mike still has a grudge against Jack for leaving the way he did, and Jack is in dire straits, with a less than desirable family situation, no job and a possible expulsion in his future.  But the feelings between Jack and Mike won't be denied, even with their past hurts.

I really liked Mike.  He's ambitious and solid, and so much more mature than Jack.  But it's easy to see the attraction between these two, with Jack providing the excitement that Mike has missed all the years he was gone.  

Jack does manage to find a way to put up with being back in his hometown, and I loved  how he got involved with the high schoolers hanging around Mike's place. It opens the door for more and I really loved how things turned out with his interactions with his former guidance counselor.  She's got an important message for Jack, and for me, that was my favorite part of the book.

This book is different from Off Campus in that it gives us both Jack and Mike's point of view and I didn't feel like I got to know Jack the same way I got to know Tom in the first book in the series. I loved Mike though, so that made it all good. There's a slow build to the last part of the book that I wish had been paced a bit better but it was worth it in the end.

I really like this series and the characters. The last 30% is so full of personal revelations and I loved where Jack and Mike ended up in this book.

ARC provided for review.


About the Author

Amy Jo Cousins writes contemporary romance and erotica about smart people finding their own best kind of smexy. She lives in Chicago with her son, where she tweets too much, sometimes runs really far, and waits for the Cubs to win the World Series.

https://twitter.com/_AJCousins

https://www.facebook.com/AmyJoCousins

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/259275.Amy_Jo_Cousins

http://amyjocousins.com/
 

Blog Tour Review with Excerpt & Giveaway: Vandal by Carian Cole

Vandal Synopsis: 

She takes my breath away; she is so beautifully damaged. Yes I had broken her, ravished her life, destroyed her happiness. I brought her to ultimate despair. I was responsible for all the pain and suffering that now brought her to her knees in front of me. Broken. Hopeless. Reckless in her agony. She is a mirror of my own tortured soul. But what I took away I can give back. In ways she cannot even begin to imagine. She is everything right in all my wrongs. She loves me. She needs me. She has no idea I’m the one who wrecked her life. 

Buy Links:

 

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Exclusive Excerpt:

I slowly walk down the dark hallway and stop at Katie’s doorway. Her pink nightlight is on, illuminating the room. I don’t want to go in, but I can’t stop myself. The mix of her presence and her void is completely overwhelming, and I fall to my knees in the middle of the room. The pain in my chest is like nothing I have ever felt before, as if my heart is being ripped from my body and sliced into tiny pieces. I want her back so bad. I want to just feel her tiny hand in mine and tuck her into bed.

Lifting my head, my eyes fall on Teddy, Katie’s coveted bear that she left here to ‘take care of me’. I crawl to the small bed and lie my head next to the little bear that, just a few days ago, we tucked into her blankets together until she’d be back. Pressing my face against the little bear, I can’t hold back my tears anymore.

 

What I thought about Vandal

Late one night  a devastating car accident takes the lives of three people, including Vandal's young daughter. The family pays off all the witnesses to keep Vandal's identity out of the press, and then he's left to handle his grief alone. He's a mess.

When he see the wife of one of the victims of the crash crying at the  cemetery, he becomes obsessed with her and basically starts stalking her. Tabitha is in no better shape than Vandal, missing the husband she lost in the crash, and when Vandal offers her a ride on his bike to forget her grief for a little while she takes it.

Vandal takes her to his house by the lake and offers her release from her pain by submitting to him for a month long D/s scene and Tabitha agrees.  She's looking for anything to release her pain and so these two damaged, grieving souls come together in a bizarre relationship. Vandal doesn't tell her that he's the one that caused the accident, and their relationship is akin to waiting for another crash to happen. 

I wasn't quite sure who was more messed up here, but somehow it's just what the two of them need to break out of their grief and learn to live again. Unfortunately, Tabitha eventually learns Vandal's real identity and everything goes down the tubes.

Vandal is a complicated mess of a person. I wasn't surprised by him wanting to fix his life the way he did, and I loved that he developed some real feelings for a woman for the first time with Tabitha.  I was very interested in how everything was going to work out for them once the truth came out, and I liked that Vandal gave Tabitha the time she needed to come to terms with the fact she was in love with the man that had killed her husband.

What I didn't expect was the twist in the last chapter, and unfortunately the twist, which I'm not going to spoil for you, changed how I felt about this story. For me, the revelation was so unexpected and hard to believe that it took something away from this story for me.  You may read it and feel differently.

So overall, a nicely paced read that kept me turning the pages.   The guys from Ashes & Embers are all intriguing and that's what keeps me coming back to this series. For me, I had a hard time believing the twist at the end, and that had me giving this a 3 1/2 star rating instead of a 4.  This was a difficult book to rate since I really liked most of it, but that ending had me shaking my head in disbelief and it took something away from my enjoyment of the story. 

ARC provided for review.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Storm, book 1 in ASHES AND EMBERS)

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

About the Author:

Carian Cole Bio: I have a passion for the bad boys, those covered in tattoos, sexy smirks, ripped jeans, fast cars, motorcycles and of course, the sweet girls that try to tame them and win their hearts. My debut series, Ashes & Embers, follows the lives of rock band members as they find, and sometimes lose, the loves of their lives. My first novel in the Ashes & Embers series, Storm, published on September of 2014. Vandal, the second novel in this series is publishing in February of 2015. I currently have approximately nine books slated for this series, as well as an MC series in the works, and a few stand-alones coming in 2015 onward. Born and raised a Jersey girl, I now reside in beautiful New Hampshire with my husband and our multitude of furry pets and spend most of my time writing, reading, and vacuuming. 

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Amazon Author Page | Pinterest 

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Review:Intimate Geography (The Compass Series Book 2) by Tamsen Parker

Synopsis

Fiercely protective of her heart, India Burke let down her defenses when Cris Ardmore went from another notch on her D/s playdate belt to everything she could never admit she wanted.

But being disowned by your family and betrayed by your lover aren’t easy to get over, and India’s old fears of intimacy creep in against a backdrop of professional drama that forces her return to a place that never really felt like home.

Though she proved her loyalty when it mattered most, love is about more than grand gestures and Cris wants all of her—which may be more than India is able to give. Can Cris and India navigate to a shared future or will they forever be off course?

** Please Note: Intimate Geography is Book 2 of The Compass Series and CANNOT be read as a stand-alone. Personal Geography, the beginning of Cris and India’s story, released on December 1st 2014.**

Buy Links

 Amazon

Barnes & Noble

 KOBO

What I thought about Intimate Geography

In this follow-up to Physical Geography, India must come to terms with her feelings for Cris. and even though her heart knows what it wants, her head keeps her from totally submitting to having a real relationship.Cris is struggling too with how they'll work out their relationship with the long distance between them and India getting more focused on her job. 

There's quite a bit more about India's career in this second book, and I loved that India was a focused career-minded woman.  I don't often see female characters that are this driven, and that made her so very appealing to me. 

Without giving away any spoilers, this installment was as much of a page-turner as the first book was for me, and I was really invested in knowing whether these two would make it or not.  There's some twists and turns to be had to their relationship yet, and I really enjoyed how it all played out in this book.

I recommend this series to readers of erotic romance with a D/s theme. 

ARC provided for review.


About the Author

Tamsen Parker is a stay-at-home mom by day, erotic romance writer by naptime. She lives with her family outside of Boston, where she tweets too much, sleeps too little and is always in the middle of a book. Aside from good food, sweet rieslings and gin cocktails, she has a fondness for monograms and subway maps. She should really start drinking coffee.  

http://tamsenparker.com/

https://twitter.com/tamsenparker


https://www.facebook.com/tamsenparkerauthor