Lori L. Clark's Blog, page 170

Release Blitz & Giveaway: Enslaved by the Ocean

Title: Enslaved By the OceanAuthor: Bella JewelExpected Release Date: December 9, 2013Genre: Adult Contemporary RomanceHosted by: Love Between the Sheets

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SynopsisIndigo 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 AuthorBella 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.
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Book Blitz & Giveaway: Dating A Cougar II

Dating A Cougar II (Never Too Late, #6) by Donna McDonald: Firefighter and eco entrepreneur Walter Graham II is tired of dating beautiful, but unsettled women who don’t know what they want from life. He wants to date a woman who’s as smart as she is attractive—someone who can talk about interesting things—someone confident about her work. He wants to date Jane Fox, but the sexy older woman keeps coming up with logical reasons why a relationship could never work between them. Yet he has to keep trying because Jane is the only woman who has even turned on his body and his brain at the same time. If he could just get his reluctant ‘cougar’ into bed, Walter is sure he can give that smart mind of hers a lot more to consider than just their age difference.
Lori's thoughts: I have the 1st book, but for some reason, I read the 2nd one first. :) I thoroughly enjoyed the story and will have to go back and read the first one now. I love a good story about a hot (no pun intended) fireman and an older woman. Being an older woman who loves younger men...this story hit pretty close to home with a lot of the thinking and the stereotypes of younger men/older women relationships. Personally, I despise the term "Cougar," but that's just me.

This is a fun-filled, humorous book with a serious side. I laughed out loud in a few places. The sex was steamy and enviable. :)

This is my first book by Donna McDonald and I highly doubt it will be my last!






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Donna McDonald's idea of success is to be on an airplane and see a fellow passenger reading one of her books. If the person is laughing or smiling, she will consider it a bonus.

Her work history covers everything from housekeeper to business owner to college English instructor. It also includes an eighteen year stint as a technical writer, publications planner, and information architect in the corporate world.

Her current career goal is to be a prolific, multi-published author for the rest of her life and write stories readers will love to read.

She thinks a little travel and adventure would be nice, too.



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Excerpt:  

“Great. It’s not enough I have bloating this time. No, I have to have a pimple on my chin and an eye infection too,” Jane complained out loud.

She pulled on her favorite soft t-shirt, noting the tingling sensation as it scraped her sensitive breasts. Tomorrow was probably D-day for her period to show up. Her monthly torture seemed to only get worse as she got older. Wasn’t the monthly discomfort supposed to start easing up at some point?

Grateful her yoga shorts were at least stretchy and comfortable, Jane sighed as she pushed her rarely worn black rimmed glasses up her nose. Feeling about as frumpy as it was possible for a woman to feel, she trudged to the refrigerator to fill her favorite mug with milk. She was dunking a second cookie, and feeling slightly better about life, when the doorbell rang.

Checking the clock on the wall as she walked to answer it, she peered through the viewer at. . .Walter? What was he doing here?
Opening the door, her nose immediately registered spicy male and flowers. Flowers? Her gaze fell to the single red rose in his hand.
“Walter?” His name encompassed all her questions.

“You wear glasses?” Walter exclaimed, smiling when she looked embarrassed over the fact. “I didn’t mean to sound so shocked. They make you look seriously cute.”

“Yes. . .well, I hate wearing them. I usually wear contacts,” Jane said. “Why are you here so late?”

“Because I’m an optimist?” Walter suggested. “Here—I brought you a flower. I was going to buy you a couple dozen, but their credit card machine was down. This was all the cash I had in my pocket after the bar.”

“Bar?” Of course. Walter had been drinking and gotten some harebrained idea he just had to share. She sniffed for liquor but smelled only wine. Not knowing what else to do, Jane sighed and took the rose. “Thank you, Walter. What’s the flower for?”

“What’s the flower for?” Walter parroted. He scratched his head. Daniel forgot to fill him in on the possibility that there might be a quiz. “Can I come in?”

“Sure. . .I guess. Sorry if I seem a bit slow. I’m not used to entertaining men after ten o’clock at night,” Jane said, as she stepped aside and motioned for him to enter.

She got a whiff of heat and masculinity as Walter passed by, but this time she kept her sigh of longing to herself. She was quite proud of her self-control until Walter turned and smiled as the door clicked shut behind him. No man had ever looked so totally pleased to have just walked through her door.

“I don’t usually show up on women’s doorsteps uninvited, either. Thanks for letting me in,” Walter said.

“Sure. Okay. So what did bring you here?” Jane asked finally, the butterflies inside her stomach fluttered around the cookies she had eaten. She wondered briefly if Walter was always going to possess the ability to cause nervousness in her. “Before you answer, you should probably know that I smell secondhand smoke, red wine, and oddly enough—another man’s aftershave on you.”

Walter laughed at Jane’s accurate observations and acute sense of smell.

“That’s amazing and probably Daniel. He likes to hug. Daniel is Amanda’s. . .” Walter paused. Should he say fiancé? No. Not yet. “He’s Amanda’s boyfriend. . . and mine too, I guess. We’ve been best friends since we shared a nanny.”

“Look—it’s really late and I don’t need to hear about your sexual experimentations with your friends,” Jane said, turning away from him.

“God no. . .that’s not what. . .why would you even go there?” Walter demanded. “I said we shared a nanny. Our parents shared a babysitting service.”

“Oh,” Jane said, her face flushing with the magnitude of her error. “Well, now I’m the one totally embarrassed. Sorry. I don’t know why I even said that. It’s late. Sometimes I forget that you. . .I don’t even know what point I’m trying to make.”

She stopped talking and just shook her head, totally ashamed of her wicked thoughts.

“Maybe you mean that sometimes you remember I’m a man and forget that I’m a lot younger,” Walter finished, tagging along behind her into the kitchen. He smiled when he saw her lay the rose beside a cup with a frog on it. The smile got wider as she dunked a cookie down inside.

“I didn’t say any of that,” Jane retorted. “Stop trying to put words in my mouth—or my head. It’s late. I’m tired. I had a late dinner with friends last night. I was trying to get to bed early.”

“Speaking of being young though, I was drinking wine up until a few moments ago. You’re the one drinking milk and eating cookies at ten o’clock. So who’s being the kid, Jane? You’re eating kid food,” Walter declared, grinning at her deliberately dunking another chocolate chip cookie into the mug before taking a big bite of it.

“I’m a big girl, Walter. I can do what I want whenever I want,” Jane replied after swallowing. She realized the innuendo of that statement when the chiseled blond statue in front of her grinned wickedly. No cookie in the world was good enough to satisfy the craving for him that hit her full on.

“Yeah. That’s exactly what I like about you,” Walter said, walking closer. “You say what you think and do what you want.”

“I admire you too. You’ll get there one day,” Jane said, dashing away from close proximity to the sink to rinse her cup.

Two seconds later, she felt the heat of Walter along her back, just before two large hands blocked her in on either side. His rising interest in her was already noticeable by the time he stepped into her. The evidence of how much he desired her was as impressive as all the other times.

“Jane. You know I want you.” Walter bent his head until his cheek was against her hair. “You smell like mint and citrus. Also chocolate chip cookies right now.”

“The chocolate was because I needed comforting,” she said, more words escaping that could be taken in several ways.

“I’ll comfort you if you’ll comfort me back,” Walter said, his voice a tiny whisper between them.

Jane groaned. “If I had known you were coming by, I’d have dressed a little more. . .oh wow. . .that feels amazing,” she said, leaning her hot, heavy breasts into Walter’s large hands as they left the sink and came unerringly to the front of her. All that separated them was her favorite t-shirt. She’d never feel the same way about it again.

But no sooner had that thought occurred than she felt Walter’s hands slide down to her waist and back up under her shirt to cup both naked breasts at the same time. As he squeezed and massaged them, his sexy groan in her ear had her straightening, eliciting a surge forward, his eager erection rubbing hard against her curves.

Phrases like ‘glorious’ came to her mind.
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Book Review: Remy

Remy (Real #3) by Katy Evans: Underground fighter Remington Tate is a mystery, even to himself. His mind is dark and light, complex and enlightening. At times his actions and moods are carefully measured, and at others, they spin out of control.

Through it all, there's been one constant: wanting, needing, loving, and protecting Brooke Dumas. This is his story; from the first moment he laid eyes on her and knew, without a doubt, she would be the realest thing he's ever had to fight for.

TeriLyn's thoughts: What to say about Remy? I don't know what to say here that I haven't already said in my reviews of Real and Mine. Remy is essentially the same thing except experiencing the story with Remy rather than Brooke. I liked this book, thought it was OK. I feel like it may have been released a little too close to Mine or something. It was like re-reading Mine all over again but, obviously, from Remy's POV. Now that I'm finsihed with Remy I just feel done with Remy and Brooke. I loved Real, adored Mine, and Remy is just OK for me so I think I've had it. The way their story wrapped in Mine was satisfying for me and I could have been content stopping there. The writing is as strong as ever in Remy. I thought I knew a lot of what Remy was thinking from the first two books because he's just so...well, Remy. All of his actions in Real and Mine proved how he felt about Brooke. I never once questioned what he was doing in regards to her in either of those books. There wasn't a whole lot of mystery there. Remy is primal, instincitve, animalistic; his claiming of Brooke is indicative of those basic desires. I like those aspects of Remy, I think it makes him a man, and I think it makes their story that much sweeter. I'm just done reading about it now. It's been a little overdone for me. Although, reading his thoughts I learned he struggled more than I thought he did but still in the realm of what I imagined. So Remy provides a bit new content to progress the series (but not too much) and while the insight into Remy was honest and refreshing I still felt like it was redundant. Just an OK 3 hearts for me.

Book Review: Grounded by You

Grounded by You by Ivy Sinclair: Lights, camera, and passions flare when a small town boy gets the break of his career. As the lines of life and art blur together, can he also find a way to win the love of the girl who got away?

Carter Samuel Groveson.

His name is on the lips of every woman in the country who has a pulse. An actor plucked from obscurity to star in the most anticipated movie of the century, he’s an enigma to all. Everyone wants a piece of him.

Except her.

Amelia St. John isn’t about to follow the life plan that her father set out for her. She refuses to be tied down or commit to anyone. A year ago, she ran as far and as fast from Sam Groveson as she could. But when he reappears in her life and asks her to be the friend he needs to keep him tethered to reality in the midst of the chaos, she can’t say no.

Unfortunately for Sam, his big break comes with expectations that threaten his career if he doesn’t toe the line. In this high stakes game of love, everyone is watching.
TeriLyn's thoughts: **ARC generously provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Grounded By You is the sweet story of Sam and Millie. The story and the writing is simplistic making the story sweet and enjoyable. It was not an axis shifting read for me. While we did get a sense of who the characters actually are, it was only surface deep. The story flowed naturally though and moves at a fluid pace; never laboring over a particular scene or event.

Sam and Millie are friends from a summer spent by the shore. Millie is jaded and independent. Sam is small town, kind guy looking for his big break. They connected in North Carolina and formed a friendship over a book that was based on the Inn they both worked. Millie leaves unexpectedly and unknowing to Sam. A year later he shows back up at her door and their story moves on from there. Sam is a bit naive especially for man who's about to make a huge name for himself. He's demure and looking for lasting love. He's not an alpha or player; just a good guy. Millie is fierce and confused by a strange relationship with her parents. She's fighting for control. Their relationship heightens in the midst of big changes for both of them. Whether or not they'll withstand the changes is questioned.

As stated, I enjoyed it. I found Millie and Sam endearing. I also like Millie's brother Josh and Sam's co-star Delaney as secondary characters. I thought their story could be a little deeper however I feel satisfied now that I've finished it. Overall, a good read.

Amazon Top 10 New Adult Books: December 8, 2013

These are the top 10 bestselling New Adult books as listed on Amazon.com at the time of posting! (Single titles only - No box sets.)


1. Trouble by Samantha Towle: Mia Monroe is running. Running from a person she doesn’t ever want to find her. Running from a past she doesn’t ever want anyone to know. Desperate to find a future, that yesterday, she could only dream of having.

Jordan Matthews likes easy. Easy women. Easy life.

Then he meets Mia.

She’s damaged, troubled and has more baggage than any person can carry. But the more Jordan gets to know Mia-for the first time in his life-he finds himself wanting to try hard for something … for someone … for her.

And then life isn’t so easy anymore.


2. The Proposition 1: The Ferro Family (The Proposition: The Ferro Family) by H.M. Ward: Blackmail. Sex. Ferro.

His dark hair, bright eyes, and cocky grin look just the way I remembered. The last time I saw Bryan's Ferro's beautiful body, he was naked and shimmering with sweat. This time he's wearing a tux and a wicked smirk that makes my heart beat too fast. It's been so long since I've seen him, the moment feels supercharged.

But, the words that fall out of his mouth aren't what I expect and shock me to the core. They aren't light and pleasant, like ex-lovers who decided to part ways. His tone is clipped, and if his jaw locked any tighter, it would crack. He doesn't care about my personal life, my recent loss, or my boyfriend.

Bryan makes his intentions clear--if I don't sleep with him, he'll ruin me.


3. Last Hit (Hitman) by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick: Nikolai: I have been a contract killer since I was a boy. For years I savored the fear caused by my name, the trembling at the sight of my tattoos. The stars on my knees, the marks on my fingers, the dagger in my neck, all bespoke of danger. If you saw my eyes, it was the last vision you'd have. I have ever been the hunter, never the prey. With her, I am the mark and I am ready to lie down and let her capture me. Opening my small scarred heart to her brings out my enemies. I will carry out one last hit, but if they hurt her, I will bring the world down around their ears.

Daisy: I've been sheltered from the outside world all my life. Homeschooled and farm-raised, I'm so naive that my best friend calls me Pollyanna. I like to believe the best in people. Nikolai is part of this new life, and he's terrifying to me. Not because his eyes are cold or my friend warns me away from him, but because he's the only man that has ever seen the real me beneath the awkwardness. With him, my heart is at risk..and also, my life.


4. Fall Into Me (Heart of Stone) by K.M. Scott: The second book in the Heart of Stone series continues the sensual and emotional story of Tristan and Nina that began in Crash Into Me...

Wealthier and more powerful than most men his age, Tristan Stone merely has to give voice to his desires and whatever he wants is his. Money has given him the ability to say nothing and no one is beyond his reach.

Except for Nina. Stripped of her memory after an accident, she doesn't remember the man who loves her. Now he must find a way to show her why she fell in love with him, but the past is always just a step behind, threatening to take her away forever.

Unsure of everything about the past four years, Nina believes Tristan loves her. But will the secrets he holds tear them apart just when she needs him most?


5. Forever, Jack (Eversea #2) by Natasha Boyd: This is the sequel to Eversea : a love story.

A feisty small-town girl and the Hollywood star who broke her heart. An all-consuming love threatened by fame. One last chance at FOREVER.

Keri Ann Butler's life changed on the night she met movie star, Jack Eversea. She thought she knew a Jack that was very different to the man adored by fans the world over. In the wake of his betrayal and abandonment, Keri Ann has had to pick up and move forward with the life she was supposed to live and has put off far too long.

Suddenly Jack is back, and his explanations for why he left seem more and more plausible, and his declarations more seductive. But being Jack's latest tabloid accessory isn't on Keri Ann's career agenda, no matter how much she is attracted to him. And how can she can ever trust him again?

Jack knows he let the only 'real' thing that ever happened to him slip through his fingers. And his hands have been tied to try and stop it. Until Now.

Jack is now fighting to save his relationship with Keri Ann, even as his crazy life threatens to tear them apart. Again. The question is, can he convince her she can have it all? And have him? Forever?


6. Crash Into Me (Heart of Stone) by K.M. Scott: What would you give up for everything? Tristan Stone was powerful, commanding, sex incarnate. And he wore it all so well. From the moment his mesmerizing gaze met mine, I had no choice but surrender to everything he was. His power. His decadence. His passion. He was all I never knew I needed.

He wanted to possess me, and I wanted to be his everything. All I had to do was accept what he offered. But everything has a price.

The world he gave me fulfilled my wildest dreams, but would that be enough when the past crashed into the present?


7. A Little Christmas Romance by H.M. Ward: There's no such thing as second chances, and Brooke would know. This Christmas will be spent alone and celebrated, same as the last. It doesn't matter that she's a disgruntled mall elf, standing next to a chimney-scented Santa with the most annoying co-worker ever. It doesn't make Christmas more magical. It's just another day to endure, and the holiday can't pass fast enough. That is, until her old flame, Chris, spots her.

After taking a picture with Brooke in her elf costume, things take an unexpected turn. Maybe getting through the night won't be so difficult after all.


8. Enslaved By The Ocean (Criminals Of The Ocean #1) by Bella Jewel: A connection will bring them together. A connection will pull them apart.

Indigo has a troubled past, and there's no denying it. Tired of feeling terrified all the time, she decides to escape her demons and start her life over again in a different country. Together her and her best-friend, Eric, hire a yacht to take them away from it all. It's time for Indi to feel some freedom of her own.

Until the yacht catches fire.

Stranded in the ocean, cold, hungry, desperate and alone, Eric and Indi struggle to survive. Then they show up. She'd heard of them, but never thought them to be true. Now here they are, frightened, and in even more trouble than they could have ever imagined.

They've been captured by pirates.

Hendrix is the captain, and the moment Indi lays eyes on him, a spark forms. Desperate for escape, she plays on that spark. Hendrix is hard to crack, he's determined, powerful and he refuses to let her in. If she can't get in, then she will face the reality that she might not make it out of this alive.

Can two worlds so different, collide to make something beautiful?


9. Keep Me Still by Caisey Quinn: Layla Flaherty had the perfect life, or close to it. Until a stranger gunned her parents down right in front of her, leaving her with seizure inducing PTSD. After years of trying to pass as normal and failing miserably, she resigns herself to being invisible. But new to town Landen O’Brien sees her, and he likes what he sees. Much to Layla’s surprise, he doesn’t freak out when she has a seizure in front of him. He does the exact opposite, calming her until the tremors subside. But Landen has secrets of his own. Secrets that both bind them together and tear them apart.

Scarred by loss, Layla leaves her hometown of Hope Springs, Georgia, hoping to put her painful past behind her and start over in college in California. When she runs into Landen at freshmen orientation, she has a choice to make. Reinforce those steel walls she's built up around herself or give the only boy who can keep her still a second chance.

Landen’s more than ready to tear down those walls but this time when they come crashing down, they might bury her.


10. All the Pretty Lies (Pretty Series) by M. Leighton: Her...
Sloane Locke has led a sheltered life. However, with a history like hers, she can understand why her brothers and her father want so much to protect her. She has gone along with it for twenty long years, but those days are over. For the girl who never makes promises, Sloane has made a pact with herself that things will change on her twenty-first birthday. So when the clock strikes midnight, Sloane strikes out to spread her wings and break a few rules.

Him...
In addition to inking skin, Hemi Spencer possesses many talents. Controlling himself has never been one of them. It's never had to be. He's lived a life of indulgence for as long as he can remember. Right up until tragedy struck. Now, he's nothing but controlled. He's a man on a mission, one who will let nothing and no one stand in his way.

Them...
Nothing in their lives could've prepared Sloane and Hemi for what they'd find in each other--distraction and obsession, love and possession. But the one thing they can't find is a future. Neither one has been totally honest. And they'll soon learn that the devil is in the details. In the details and in the lies.

How far will two people go to live in the now when the now is all they've got?

Book Review: The Dark Light of Day

The Dark Light of Day by T.M. Frazier: Warning: This is not your typical romance. The story of Abby & Jake contains disturbing situations, graphic violence, sex, rape, strong language, drug use, and all types of abuse.

Abby has been through hell and has survived one of the most brutal childhoods imaginable…barely.

To the outside world she's just a loner with an attitude.

When her grandmother dies in a tragic explosion, Abby is left with questions-and nothing else.

Homeless, sleeping in a junkyard, and on the run from a system that has failed her over and over again, she meets Jake, a tattooed blue-eyed biker with secrets that will rival her own.

Two broken souls that can't be healed. They can't be saved.

Abby & Jake must reveal to one another their most guarded secrets and discover if they can embrace the darkness those secrets hold-and the darkness within themselves.

If they can accept one another for who they really are, they might be able to learn that love isn’t always found in the light.

*stand alone novel, HEA in a twisted kind of way, no cliffhangers, no sequel.

Lori's thoughts: I just finished this book. Devoured it, would be the more accurate description. After reading the same old story in so many books these days, you know the ones: The good girl meets the bad boy and reforms him. He vows to change his ways, and they live happily ever after? Yeah, that's not this book. This is about a broken girl who has been to hell and back and yet still manages to stay strong through it all. Abby is truly a survivor. People talk about insta-love here, I didn't really see it. Sure they liked each other from the start, and frankly, that's more realistic than two people who can't stand each other fighting their attraction until one day they wake up and smell the coffee, finally deciding they do love one another. There is such a thing as soul recognition. (I think). Abby and Jake had both been through so much in their life prior to crossing paths. How they actually first lay eyes on one another is comical in an interesting, twisted sort of way. This isn't your typical HEA love story and for that, I am so very grateful. Read this book at your own risk. If you can handle it!

Book Review: Escaping Reality

Escaping Reality (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen, #1) by Lisa Renee Jones: Infinite possibilities….
Infinite passion…..
Infinite danger….

His touch spirals through me, warm and sweet, wicked and hot. I shouldn’t trust him. I shouldn’t tell him my secrets. But how do I not when he is the reason I breathe? He is what I need.

At the young age of eighteen, tragedy and a dark secret force Lara to flee all she has known and loves to start a new life. Now years later, with a new identity as Amy, she’s finally dared to believe she is forgotten–even if she cannot forget. But just when she lets down her guard, the ghosts of her past are quick to punish her, forcing her back on the run.

On a plane, struggling to face the devastation of losing everything again and starting over, Amy meets Liam Stone, a darkly entrancing recluse billionaire, who is also a brilliant, and famous, prodigy architect. A man who knows what he wants and goes after it. And what he wants is Amy. Refusing to take “no” as an answer, he sweeps her into a passionate affair, pushing her to her erotic limits. He wants to possess her. He makes her want to be possessed. Liam demands everything from her, accepting nothing less. But what if she is too devastated by tragedy to know when he wants more than she should give? And what if there is more to Liam than meets the eyes?
Lori's thoughts: While ultimately, I liked this book, I didn't really start enjoying it until the end. I've read far too many tales of some girl meeting some really hot billionaire and him changing his playboy, non-commitment style just for her after a chance meeting. I liked Liam, though. I also liked Amy. There is more about this story than meets the eye, and that's what makes me want to continue with the series. I want the same answers Amy is going after in the 2nd book. I don't necessarily even care if she winds up with Liam. I like the other story behind the Shades of Grey-esque written book. That's what makes me want more. So, I will definitely be reading book 2 soon.

Cover Reveal: All I Ever Wanted

All I Ever Wanted: by Marilyn Brant, Caisey Quinn, Lexi Ryan and Rhonda Helms:

Winterfest is heating up in Abbott Springs…

As the town’s yearly festival kicks off, cold days turn into steamy nights, new flames will be ignited, and old romances will be rekindled.

All About Us by Marilyn Brant—All Sami Abbott ever wanted was permission to be herself. At home, she aims to be the perfect daughter but never measures up. At college, she’s the bold girl who had a one-night stand with sexy musician, Alex Hamilton. When he arrives unexpectedly in Abbott Springs, her worlds collide and she must reconcile the girl she tries to be with the person she really is.

All I Need by Caisey Quinn–All pink-haired rocker chick Everly Abbott thought she wanted was acceptance in her straight-laced hometown. But her best friend and bandmate Justin Cohen is about to show her that what she thinks she wants isn’t necessarily what she needs.

All for Love by Rhonda Helms–All Maya Monterey ever wanted was to belong. Happiest with the Abbott family, Maya’s been secretly in love with sexy pastry chef Oliver Abbott for years. With a flirty new look, she’ll pull out all the stops to get him to notice her. And if her plan fails, she’ll walk away from the only home she’s ever known–and Oliver–for good.

All or Nothing by Lexi Ryan—After years of placing the wrong bets, all Aubree Baxter wanted was someone to take a chance on her. Golden boy Kennedy Hale plays it safe in life and love, but to keep Bree in Abbott Springs, he’ll have to go all in.

All I Ever Wanted by
Authors: Lexi Ryan, Rhonda Helms, Marilyn Brant, and Caisey Quinn
Publication date: January 13th, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult

Cover Reveal: A Fighting Chance

COVER REVEALA FIGHTING CHANCEBy A.J. Sand
New Adult/Adult Romantic SuspenseReleasing February 4, 2014Cover designed by Cover It! Designs


Jesse Chance is a bastard.

And that’s all he heard his entire life growing up once news got out that he was the illegitimate child of womanizing ex-con, Henry Chance.

Stuck in Glory, Texas, a town too small to escape the sins of his parents, Jesse turned into exactly what everyone expected him to be: a lover of liquor and women, and so good with his fists, he became a teenage champion of the secret underground fighting rings that float around the South, while doubting the only people who ever believed he could be more, his ailing mother, and his girlfriend, Drew Hallisay.

But determined to make his mother’s dying wish come true, he enrolled in a college on the East Coast, far away from his past. Jesse Chance is reborn into a new life, and set on keeping Glory, Texas--and Henry Chance--in his rear view.

Until a visit from his father in the middle of the night changes everything.

Forced to return to Glory to prevent a tragedy, Jesse is soon back on the fighting circuit with Drew's help and facing the history he was so desperate to escape, the part of him he would prefer to hide.

As he slips back into his old ways--Henry Chance's ways--he finds himself torn between the guy he was and the one he’s been struggling to become. And in a world dead set on betting against you, can you ever really overcome your past… or your destiny?




About the Author

A.J. Sand grew up an only child whose parents bought her many, many books to keep her busy, so it was only natural that she would start writing her own stories. She is the author of “Documentary,” “Remake” and “Recklessly.” She lives just outside of Washington, D.C.

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Book Review: The Return

The Return by AL Park: Eve Carlisle had a singular purpose - sell the rustic house nestled in the Colorado ski resort town.

Tortured by her husband’s betrayal, the beautiful divorcee refused to give her heart to another man. But Jake had been a happy surprise, with his mesmerizing blue eyes, warm smile, strong but gentle nature – as well as being incredibly sexy.

She had convinced herself the relationship with Jake was nothing more than a fling. After all, she had a life in Newport, with society friends and a lucrative career as a family court judge. Still, Jake had a definitive hold over her, and she was finding it hard to think clearly where he was concerned.

The demons of prior failed marriages haunt them both, and threaten to end things just as they are beginning. When Jake tells Eve he is falling in love with her, Eve refuses to believe it can last. Returning to Newport, the hollowness of her existence exposed, she must confront her fears before she loses Jake forever.
Lori's thoughts: Loved this book. Very well written. :) And, isn't the cover gorgeous?! Eve and Jake are an amazing couple and proof that when you least expect it...you should expect it. Eve is smart, and tough, and has been through too much crap to want to start over. So it's hard for her to just pick up and go. She doesn't want to leave her home behind, and it takes going back home again to realize she really didn't have much to go home to. It would be hard to pick up and just move halfway across the country, but at least she had a home waiting for her, should she decide that's what she wanted to do. :) Bravo, AL! Can't wait to see what's up next for you! 



AL Parks author links:A.L. Parks

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