Tuesday 2 February 2016

Release Day Blitz, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway ~ Until I'm Yours (Bennetts #4) by Kennedy Ryan


Book Description:



The world knows her face . . .

Mean girl. Goddess. Bitch. Supermodel Sofie Baston has earned those labels . . . yet they don't scratch the surface of who she really is. Before she can follow her own dreams, Sophie must do her daughterly duty and reel in a "fish" for her father's business-a tall, brown-eyed entrepreneur who immediately hooks her. He's a big guy with an even bigger heart . . . but will that heart be open to Sofie once her darkest secret is revealed?

. . . but only one man knows her heart

To Trevor Bishop, Sofie is a beautiful mystery he would gladly spend his life solving. He figures her tough demeanor is armor against a world that's hurt her too many times. Then Sofie's deepest wounds are reopened by the powerful, ruthless man who made them. When she musters the courage to take him down, her world shatters. Now Trevor is determined to help Sofie pick up the pieces so they can build a future together. The challenge will be convincing his ice princess that it's safe to melt in his arms . . .

Add it to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1GL2FPz

Buy Links:

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1HOSbCV



Excerpt:

“Sofie, I’m sorry I didn’t call you back yet.” Jalene blocks my path to Trevor and Anna. 

“Call?” I lean subtly to the left just in time to see Anna following Trevor into the coatroom.

The hell.

“Yes.” Jalene raises her penciled brows expectantly. “You asked me about a series of instructional barre videos for your new lifestyle website, remember?”

“Oh, yes.” I try to focus on the conversation, but can’t help wondering what’s going on in that coatroom. “Of course.”

“I was afraid I wouldn’t have time, but I can do it.”

“That’s awesome, Jalene.” I give a quick smile. “My assistant Stil will contact you to set up details.”

“Great job in class today, Sofie.”

“Thanks.” Having Trevor behind me added a little something to my usual enthusiasm. “I need to grab my coat. Thanks again, Jalene.”

I speed walk to the coatroom, jerking the door open like I might catch Trevor and Anna in the middle of a compromising position. They are both fully dressed, though. Both layered up for the cool morning and laughing over something I’m sure I wouldn’t find funny.

“Sofie, hey.” Anna leans into Trevor, her head well below his shoulder. “I was just inviting Trevor to opening night for my new show.”

“Really?” I lean against the wall by the door. “And what did Trevor say?”

“I hadn’t gotten around to saying anything yet.” Trevor walks over to stand in front of me, taking my hand. “Maybe we could go together.”

Just past his shoulder, the dismay on Anna’s face is almost humorous. I’m sure when she invited Trevor, she wasn’t thinking he’d bring me along. And he won’t be. 

“See you Thursday, Anna.” I address her, but my eyes cling to Trevor’s. Will I have to climb the man for her to take the hint? 

“But, Trevor and I—”

“Thursday, Anna.” My eyes and words cut into her sentence like a razor blade. “Goodbye, Anna.”

She’s out the door without further protest.

Trevor rests one arm against the wall by my head, his scent and the warmth of his body sheltering and stimulating me, making me feel safe and completely vulnerable at the same time. He stares down at me, waiting for my move. I’ve never taken a step in his direction, and the fact that I sought him out obviously pleases him, but he knows me at least well enough to guess there must be a reason.

I reach behind me to lock the door. Trevor’s eyebrows lift, but he otherwise remains still. I reach up to rest an arm on his shoulder, sliding my fingers into the short, soft hair close to his scalp. 

“Let’s get straight to the point and not play games, Bishop.”

His hand, wrapping around my waist, cupping the curve of my back, lays warm and heavy through the thin fabric of my workout clothes. 

“I don’t play games, Sof.” Trevor leans down to whisper in my ear. “I’m a man who goes after what he wants and usually gets it.”

He pulls back, dark eyes not laughing, close to sober.

“Am I getting what I want?” He drops his other arm from the wall, bringing that hand to my side, and pulls me close enough to feel his hard body through the sweatpants and hoodie he’s put on. “Say yes.”

I’ll do better than saying yes. I’ll show him.

I tug his head toward me until our mouths touch. Those full lips are softer than I imagined. He opens me up with his tongue, delving into my mouth slowly, like he’s savoring the first taste of me as much as I’m savoring my first taste of him


Our Review:


Reviewed by Donna ~ 4.5 stars
***ARC received for an honest review***



“Your story is your most powerful weapon. We must use our hurts to help.”



I found Kennedy Ryan when she released her last book, My Soul to Keep, a book that I fell in love with, so when I saw that this book could be read as a standalone I dived in once again. It now looks like I have another three books to read, because after reading this one, I want to devour them all.

I burnt the midnight oil reading this one, I couldn’t put it down and was an emotional mess towards the end. I know I get teary fairly easily but it still takes that character connection and that gut wrenching emotional writing to turn the water works on and Kennedy Ryan had me leaking like a faucet. Sofie Baston was a character that you couldn’t help but fall in love with and it is unusual for me to feel such an affinity for a female character, but Sofie’s story really touched me and I just wanted her to succeed at everything and especially with Trevor Bishop.

Sofie Baston came from a rich family, she could have had anything and everything she wanted but she didn’t want it given to her. She wanted to earn it. Sofie was born to two parents who thought more of their social standing than their daughter. Having never had that parental love or relationship, Sofie truly felt that she was unlovable. Her childhood friend, a man who her parents had wanted her to marry didn’t even love her in that way and when she failed to land the man her parents disowned her even more. To them she was a disappointment.


“You may have just started caring about people, Sofie, but no one cares about you. You’re just a famous face and an overexposed body.”


However, Sofie went and made a name for herself, she was a top model, the biggest name in the modelling world, the cat walk queen…a Goddess. Her face was everywhere and everyone knew her. But her shenanigans as a twenty something are all documented by paps and playboy spreads are just another reason her parents are desperately waiting for her “little modelling moment” to end. Now coming to the end of her career she wants to make a name for herself off the runway, but will her past haunt her?

Sofie was such a strong and determined character, she was smart and intelligent and her charities that she supported meant the world to her. You would think she would have no self-esteem issues, but she just sees herself as an empty vessel, everyone just wants the body…the face…nobody wants Sofie Baston the person…she is unlovable…but she wasn’t.


“You’ve discarded the trappings, the outside, and have awakened the part of you that is really alive. Germination is a kind of death, and it’s painful.”


Trevor Bishop was a philanthropist, a feminist, he was intelligent, knew what he wanted, was a little alpha, determined, passionate and he had Sofia Baston firmly in his sights. Trevor was not a one-night stand kind of guy. He thrived on emotional connection and wanted deep and meaningful rather than shallow and fleeting. He was ADORABLE. With Irish heritage, a huge family and a bit of a mummy’s boy there was nothing about him I disliked. When Trevor Bishop loved, he loved hard and he was all in. His fierceness and protectiveness are just more traits that made this already perfect man, even more perfect.

This book was an intense journey for Sofie Baston. She was a woman that needed to let go of the past so that she could look to the future. A woman that needed to believe in herself, a woman that was desperate to love and be loved. Kennedy Ryan unfurls Sofie’s past like unwrapping a pass the parcel, as each layer is removed we learn more and more and the secrets and insecurities inside slowly get smaller and smaller. Sofie has a lot of battles to fight but she has the right man by her side as long as she is willing to let him. Sofie needs to believe in herself and Trevor.


“This thing between us, Sofie…Not only has it already gone too far…But I’m too far gone.”


Sofie and Trevor were total opposites and even the press had labelled them the Saint and the Sinner but Trevor saw underneath the façade that Sofie Baston firmly kept in place, he saw the strong, beautiful underneath and that was the Sofie that Trevor wanted. Kennedy Ryan treats the reader to that slow build, that palpable connection and intense chemistry and makes the pages literally sizzle. From laughing one minute to swooning the next you will be championing these two characters along. Yes, there is angst, yes there were tears but it was a necessary journey, especially for Sofie, she had demons to exorcise and it was painful at times.


“Maybe everything I had to prove was to myself.”


Kudos to Kennedy Ryan for delivering one scene in particular that shredded me. It was so moving for me that I had to message the author to say well done and then to learn that it nearly never made it to the final version was unfathomable. Some may say it is cliché but for me and especially considering who Sofie Baston was the underlying meaning behind her actions really sliced at my already fragile heart. Totally loved this book.


About the Author:

I'm a wife, a mom, a writer, an advocate for families living with autism. That's me in a nutshell. Crack the nut, and you'll find a Southern girl gone Southern California who loves pizza and Diet Coke, and wishes she got to watch a lot more television. You can usually catch me up too late, on social media too much, or FINALLY putting a dent in my ever-growing To Be Read list!



Giveaway:

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