Review, Excerpt & Giveaway:The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen

Title: The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years, #4)

Author: Sarina Bowen

Genre: NA | Contemporary Romance

Release Date: April 14, 2015

Tour Hosted by: As the Pages Turn

Synopsis

The girl who’s had everyone meets the boy who has no one.

For Bella, the sweet-talking, free-loving, hip-checking student manager of the Harkness men’s hockey team, sex is a second language. She’s used to being fluent where others stutter, and the things people say behind her back don’t (often) bother her. So she can’t understand why her smoking hot downstairs neighbor has so much trouble staying friends after their spontaneous night together. She knows better than to worry about it, but there’s something in those espresso eyes that makes her second guess herself.

Rafe is appalled with himself for losing his virginity in a drunken hookup. His strict Catholic upbringing always emphasized loving thy neighbor—but not with a bottle of wine and a box of condoms. The result is an Ivy League bout of awkwardness. But when Bella is leveled by a little bad luck and a downright sinister fraternity stunt, it’s Rafe who is there to pick up the pieces.

Bella doesn’t want Rafe’s help, and she’s through with men. Too bad the undeniable spark that crackles between the two of them just can’t be extinguished.

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The Shameless Hour ~ Excerpt

I held her a little closer as we danced. The band had no vocalist, but I could hear Louis Armstrong’s voice in my head. Give me… a kiss to build a dream on. “I’ve always loved this song,” I confessed.

“Wait, really?” Bella stood up taller so she could look me in the eye. “Have you listened to the lyrics? The guy gets a single kiss, and he basically says that it’s enough — he’s just going to fantasize about it for the rest of his life. I mean… what a rip.”

I bit back a smile. “It’s romantic.”

“It’s unsatisfying,” she countered. “Here, I’ll show you.” Before I knew what was happening, Bella came closer. Her silky thumb stroked once across my cheekbone. Then she stood up on her toes and kissed me.

The first press of her sweet lips against mine stopped my breathing. Though you couldn’t have paid me to resist her. Sheer instinct made me lean into that kiss with my entire being.

Bella’s mouth melted onto mine, and a needy little sound issued from the back of her throat. Heaven. I deepened the kiss, and our tongues touched once. She tasted of red wine and desire. An electric pulse traveled the length of my body. Unbidden, my hands pulled her closer, my fingers in her hair…

The sound of applause brought me back to earth with a thunk. The song had ended, and the band segued into some kind of swing tune. Bella and I broke apart on a gasp. For a second we just stared at each other. “See?” she said eventually.

But I didn’t have the faintest recollection of the point she’d been trying to make. “What?”

Amusement tickled her features. “Never mind. I hear my wine glass calling me.” She tugged on my hand.

What I thought about The Shameless Hour

It's been a few days since I finished this book and I'm still not sure what I want to say about it in this review.  I liked the story and I loved the characters. Bella is the student manager of the Harkness hockey team.  She's very comfortable in her own skin and very confident about sex. Rafe, one of the other students in her dorm just got dumped and she takes him to her room to help him get over his ex, only she doesn't realize he's a virgin. After a very hot night together, she's able to walk away from their casual hookup, while Rafe is still processing their casual hookup.

Fate has a different plan for these two, and when Bella runs into a bit of trouble at the football fraternity, she finds that it's Rafe and his friendship that she needs the most.  I loved the relationship between Rafe and Bella. Even though it was hard for her to accept his friendship after what happened between them, it was his strength that gets her through the rough time.  I loved watching their relationship grow in this story.

I thought the depiction of college life was very true to real life in The Shameless Hour and I appreciated seeing the good and the bad of it all. The theme regarding slut-shaming worked well in the story. I loved the scenes with Bella and the hockey team as they try to help her as well.  This story has some really nice things to say about the strong friendships that can be made in those college years.

I did think the book ended a bit abruptly for me and the tensions from the incident at the frat house sputtered at the end.  But the writing is very good and kept me turning the pages.  I really like this author and hope to get to more of her titles on my TBR shelf soon.

So 4 solid stars for The Shameless Hour.  If you haven't read this author, you should definitely give her a read.

Books in the Ivy Years Series

Purchase Ivy Years Series

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Giveaway

The giveaway is open internationally and ends 05/03/2015.

• (1) An Ivy Years Notebook (It’s super cute)
• (1) eBook box set of Ivy Years #1-3
• (1) Signed paperback of The Year We Fell Down

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Sarina Bowen

Sarina Bowen writes steamy, angsty contemporary romance from Vermont’s Green Mountains. (Her ancestors began logging and farming Vermont during the 18th century. These were rugged, outdoor types without benefit of a laptop or a good latte. It boggles the mind.) Sarina enjoys skiing, skating and good food. She lives in Windsor County, Vermont, with her family, eight chickens and too much ski gear and hockey equipment.

Website + Facebook + Twitter + Pinterest + Instagram + Tumblr + Goodreads

Release Day Launch:Sweet by Tammara Webber

Join us in celebrating the release of 

SWEET by Tammara Webber! 

Check out the excerpt and teasers below!

SWEET (Contours of the Heart #3) 

by Tammara Webber

NA Contemporary Romance

Goodreads

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Blurb:
He’s the love of her life, but he doesn’t know it.
She’s his one moment of sacrifice in a lifetime of survival.

He was damaged and wild, but resilient.
She’s always been obedient. Now she’s restless.

Home for the summer between college and med school, Pearl Torres Frank knows two things: Boyce Wynn is the embodiment of everything she should run from, and everything she wants to run to. Rebellious and loud. Unconcerned with society’s opinion of him. Passionate. Strong. Dangerous.

And one more trait he hides from everyone but her:

Sweet.

Excerpt:

Boyce watched me, a lit cigarette in one hand and a koozied beer in the other. We hadn’t spoken since that kiss, other than his usual juvenile quips during biology—the ones that drove Mel and Mr. Quinn insane and made Landon smirk and shake his head and had me biting the inside of my cheek to suppress my smile.

At first, I’d been confused, then disappointed, and then angry. I’d worked my way to acceptance, like when I’d known I was drowning and there was nothing I could do. He’d merely gone back to being Boyce Wynn, who did what he wanted and who he wanted. And I’d gone back to being Pearl Frank—star student, social royalty, good girl.

But I couldn’t forget that kiss. The fixed glint of his eyes across the fire said that neither could he.

About the Author:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of EASY and BREAKABLE (Contours of the Heart series - NA), as well BETWEEN THE LINES, WHERE YOU ARE, GOOD FOR YOU and HERE WITHOUT YOU (Between the Lines series - YA/NA).

I'm a hopeful romantic who adores novels with happy endings, because there are enough sad endings in real life. Before writing full-time, I was an undergraduate academic advisor, economics tutor, planetarium office manager, radiology call center rep, and the palest person to ever work at a tanning salon. I married my high school sweetheart, and I'm Mom to three adult kids and four very immature cats.

website:
tammarawebber.com

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Review:Love and Shamrocks (Ballybeg #5) by Zara Keane

Trouble in Dublin, True Love in Ballybeg

Clio Havelin needs a lucky break. Desperate to protect her child, Clio accepts her estranged mother’s offer of a refuge in Ballybeg. What can go wrong in a place with more cows than people? Her hope for a fresh start is smashed to smithereens when she’s blackmailed into facilitating the heist of the decade. So the last thing Clio needs is a sexy cop underfoot, especially when she’s one crime away from freedom. Too bad she’s already slept with him.

Seán Mackey wants his life back. The former police detective is now stuck apprehending errant sheep in Ballybeg — population 3968, pubs 35. After months of frustration, he’s finally on the scent of a real case. When he’s sidelined into playing bodyguard for his nemesis, talk show hostess Helen Havelin, he’s pissed. And when his gorgeous one-night stand turns out to be Helen’s daughter, Clio, pissed turns to horrified.

Buy Links

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What I thought about Love and Shamrocks

 

In Love and Shamrocks, there's a whole lot more about Sean Mackey, a character we've seen in previous books in the series.  He still whines about being stuck in Ballybeg, longing for career advancement and freedom from the bad memories brought on by the town and it's inhabitants. One weekend he goes to the city to escape small town life for a bit, and he meets a gorgeous woman in a bar and nature takes it's course.

Clio's had a rough life. Kicked out of her house at seventeen, she's been on her own and sometimes in with the very wrong crowd. But when her daughter's well being is in danger, she's willing to do whatever she must to take care of her.   She can't resist the handsome stranger she meets at the bar on the eve before she returns to the tiny town of Ballybeg.

There's quite a bit of heat between Sean and Clio from the start.  But he gets called away on a case before she finds out he's a cop, and so that becomes the first point of tension between them.  Turns out there's even more connections between them, too.

There are a few different crimes to solve in Ballybeg, one involving the harassment of a particular group in town, and the potential stalking of one of the town's celebrities and another involving the burglary that ties it to one of the other crimes.

There's a lot of crime investigation and characters from previous books involved in some of these mysteries.  This book really felt more like suspense than romance and while I didn't mind that, I did miss the romantic aspects of love in this little town that I felt in the previous books in the series.

There were some very bright spots among the darker backdrop of the crime stories.  I loved the scenes between Sean and Clio and Clio getting familiar with the rest of Ballybeg. But I had to say that even my e-reader felt hot when I was introduced to a new character, Lar Delaney.  He lit up the pages in his few scenes and I really need more of him, like now! 

This is one of my favorite contemporary romance series. While I liked Love and Shamrocks, I thought at something was off here. The writing felt rushed, and I would have liked a bit more romance and humor.  Okay, the swimming Elvis was funny, but I thought this book lacked the lightness of some of the previous in the series.

I really like this series, and continue to recommend it.I'm very interested in reading the spin-offs and hope for some more Lar Delaney in the future.  

ARC provided for review.


ABOUT The Author

Zara Keane grew up in Dublin, Ireland, but spent her summers in a small town very similar to the fictional Ballybeg.

She currently lives in Switzerland with her family. When she’s not writing or wrestling small people, she drinks far too much coffee, and tries – with occasional success – to resist the siren call of Swiss chocolate.

To listen to her talking about the Ballybeg series and her plans for future books, check out the Audio Files page.

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Cover Reveal:Reaper's Fall by Joanna Wylde

Reaper's Fall is the newest standalone in the Reaper's MC Series.

 

Painter & Melanie's story will be available on  

November 10th and is currently up for Pre-order!

Pre-order available at the following retailers:

Amazon US  ||  Amazon UK ||  Nook || iBooks: 

Blurb

He never meant to hurt her.

Levi “Painter” Brooks was nothing before he joined the Reapers motorcycle club. The day he patched in, they became his brothers and his life. All they asked in return was a strong arm and unconditional loyalty—a loyalty that’s tested when he’s caught and sentenced to prison for a crime committed on their behalf.

Melanie Tucker may have had a rough start, but along the way she’s learned to fight for her future. She’s escaped from hell and started a new life, yet every night she dreams of a biker whose touch she can’t forget. It all started out so innocently—just a series of letters to a lonely man in prison. Friendly. Harmless. Safe.

Now Painter Brooks is coming home… and Melanie’s about to learn that there’s no room for innocence in the Reapers MC.

About the Author

Joanna Wylde is a New York Times bestselling author and creator of the Reapers Motorcycle Club series. She currently lives in Idaho.

Stalk Her: Website | Facebook | Twitter |  Goodreads

 

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: The Magnolia Affair by T.A. Foster

Today we’re having the cover reveal for  

The Magnolia Affair

 by TA Foster!!
 
Check out this sexy new romantic thriller,
and be sure to enter T.A.’s giveaway!!  

About The Magnolia Affair:

Audrey Kingston has the perfect life she always wanted. An adoring husband, a beautiful house, book club nights with friends. It was idyllic. It was serene. Until Paxton Tanner, candidate for state senator, moved in next door.

Seduced by his undeniable charm, Audrey’s life becomes unrecognizable as she gives in to her impulses.

The affair becomes deadly, and she gets tossed into a political scandal that leads all the way to the governor’s office.

When love becomes lethal, there’s only one way out.

Goodreads

Exclusive Excerpt:

I am having an affair.

I know what you’re thinking. There has to be a reason. There needs to be a reason. Something acceptable like after five years of marriage I had spent too many nights alone with a glass of wine. Or when my workaholic husband was home we slept back to back, as if he had forgotten how to touch me.

You would understand that. You’d probably pity me and say, “Bless her heart. How could a husband treat his wife that way? What else could you do?”

You’d want me to tell you that the only thing we exchanged was conversations about the weather and updates on what needed to be added to the grocery list.

It would probably calm the judgment bubbling to the surface if I described how we ate dinner in front of the television, commenting occasionally on a drastic cliffhanger to be continued next week.

You’d give me a look of pity if I told you he stopped noticing when I got my hair cut or if I walked into the room in a new dress.

The story would start to come together in your mind if I painted a picture of how we went to bed at separate times out of habit, forgetting that we once scheduled everything around the other.

You could see it happening. You would almost feel it slipping away like water through your fingertips. It might create doubt about your own marriage, even though you’d shake your head, knowing that couldn’t happen to you. Little pieces of your own truth filtering in between the images you have of us.

It wasn’t my fault. That’s what you’d tell yourself. You’d probably want to hug me and console me with soothing words, “It’s understandable. No one can blame you.”

But I have a confession. Something you won’t want to hear. Words that will haunt you more than the excuses. None of it is true. My husband didn’t do those things. There isn’t a single thing that led me to another man.

I am having an affair for the worst possible reason. Because I can.

Enter TA Foster’s fantastic giveaway!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

About T.A. Foster:

T.A. Foster grew up catching rays and waves along the North Carolina Outer Banks and now resides in the state with her husband, three children and canine kiddo.

She has an undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate degree in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University.  When she’s not chasing her two-legged and four-legged children or trying to escape for date night, you can find her reading, writing, or planning her next beach trip.

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