Friday 17 June 2016

Release Blitz & Review ~ Southern Comfort by Andrea Smith

Release Blitz Tour
Southern Comfort 
By: USA Today Bestselling Author Andrea Smith 

Release Date: June 14, 2016


Book Description:

Welcome to Layton, Alabama. Population 11,000. Where the sweet tea runs through our veins, the air smells of cobbler, and the secrets lie so deep that not even the confessionals are safe anymore.

Our community was tight-knit, friendly, and comprised of God-fearing Christians, many of who attended Sunday services at Briar Ridge Southern Baptist Church. That is, until Avery Dawson appeared.

My name is Sunny Gardner, born and raised in Layton. I loved our small, quiet town. And then, one day, a man came into town and upended everything that I held dear to me. Shattered my life, really.

This is my story. A story of struggle and triumph and, ultimately, how I saved myself and my community from the devil himself.

Get ready to hold your breath in anticipation when you travel this dark tale of one girl's struggle to save a community in this Bible Belt town!


Buy Links:



Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 stars
***ARC received for an honest review***


“Standing alone proved fruitless when fighting the righteous Southern Baptists of Layton, Alabama.”


So finally, Andrea Smith gets a well-earned five stars from me. This was one of those books I went into totally blind, I didn’t even read the synopsis and actually I was glad I didn’t. This book totally side swiped me. Having been a seasoned Andrea Smith reader for many many years, I just read because I know that I am more than likely to like/love it, no matter what she turns her hand to. However, this was not the Andrea Smith I know and love, she delivered so much more and way out her normal box and I applaud her for doing so. I can easily say that this is my favourite Andrea Smith book thus far.


“I had a bad feeling about Avery Dawson-and it just kept getting worse.”


Southern Comfort is set in the small town of Layton Alabama, in the seventies, where everyone knows everyone and the community is brought together predominantly through church, Layton is literally bible belt country. Sunshine or Sunny as she is known is a teenage girl wanting to live a teenage life, she is sixteen going on seventeen and lives with her mum and step-father. Her mum, Donna is a bit of a doormat to be honest and after two failed marriages is determined to make sure this one survives. Being married to a minister, she has changed her whole personality befitting that of a minister’s wife even if it means to the detriment of her relationship with her daughter. This was a mother that put her husband before her daughter and I could have honestly slapped her for it, but at least Sunny had her brother even though he did live thousands of miles away.


“Because you see, Mama, I’m a daughter worth having. At least that’s what he thinks.”


Avery Dawson is the Baptist minister. Reverend Dawson was as evil as they come. Hiding behind the bible and twisting passages for his own personal warped gain. He was a fantastic villain and Andrea Smith penned him perfectly. He was the man that you instantly hated with a passion yet I found myself frantically awaiting his next point of view. How sick am I? This book is taboo, it covers abuse of power under the ruse of “counselling” and has every small time mum eating out of Avery’s sick and twisted palms. Yet every scene of “counselling” contained Andrea Smith’s trademark hot, intense sex scenes that you should hate, you should feel sick, you shouldn’t feel anything…right?

Avery was a very complex character, he was charismatic, charming and totally beguiling in his own vile, seedy way. He could pull the wool over anybody’s eyes and had done so easily to a lot of the population in Layton. He was an expert at manipulation, Machiavellian, deceitful, unscrupulous, narcissistic yet for some reason he was totally addictive. Avery may have pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes, including his wife, but Sunny was a totally different kettle of fish.

Sunny was an adorable character and her relationship with her best friend added some much needed humour to this story. Sunny was resilient though, she had been let down by most people in her life yet she hadn’t let it define her. She was inherently strong, intelligent and perceptive and in the beginning was the only person that could see Avery for the man he was and not who he was perceived to be.


“…we hatched out a plan that would not only save her marriage with Eddie, but take Avery down in the community. Little did I know the ramifications would be farther reaching than that for me.”


Sunny was determined to “out” Avery for the vile human that he was, but at what cost? Andrea Smith penned a story that will have you frantically turning the pages, angst, tension, suspense is prevalent throughout and only adds to the addictiveness that is Southern Comfort. Where small minded folk pull together to save themselves rather than face the truth, where hypocrisy is rife and the life of a teenager is inconsequential. Will the see the light or will Sunny be forced to live in the dark? I cannot recommend this read highly enough, while religion for some may be off-putting this is so much more than that. Yes, it plays its part, but the suspenseful ride is what carries this story and one that I won’t be forgetting for a while.


“…I hope you remember this for a long time to come. You may preach chapter and verse of the Bible, but by God, I’ve not seen many of you living it!”


Excerpt:

“How have things been at home between you and Eddie?” Avery asked Gloria, as he stood up from behind his desk and closed the distance between them. “May I?” he asked, gesturing towards the empty spot on the sofa in his office where she sat.

“Oh, of course, Avery,” she replied, scooting over a bit to make more room for him. “Well, I’ve done as you suggested. I’ve not given in to his lusty requests, but I have talked to him about my discontent.”

“That’s good, Gloria,” Avery replied, “But you were sensitive to his feelings when you divulged your dissatisfaction with his performance?”

She nodded vigorously, “Oh yes, of course. Just like you said, I told him that we needed to examine the flaws in our emotional relationship before we moved on to perfecting the physical part of it.”

“Excellent,” Avery said, giving her a supportive smile. "Are you ready to move on to the next step?"

Gloria blushed and fidgeted with the hem of her flowered sundress. "Avery. I understand that as a man of the cloth, your only goal is to help members of your congregation heal and mend the things in their lives so as to live according to God’s word. I reached out to you for guidance, and you’ve been very supportive and understanding. I won’t lie, I struggled with this over the past few days, but I now have put my total trust in you, because I know that it won’t work any other way.”

“That is wonderful to hear, Gloria,” Avery said softly. “I’ve always told you the main component for success is mutual trust. The Lord answers our needs in mysterious ways. This is a crucial component in making your marriage healthy and loving once again. Are you ready?”

Gloria nodded, biting her lower lip.

“Good then. On your knees, please.”

Avery stood up and watched as Gloria sank to her knees before him. “Look at me.”

She raised her eyes to him, and his gaze locked with hers. “One of the key components to mutual satisfaction is stated clearly in the Bible, Ephesians 5:33: Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Show me now how you will reverence Eddie in the future.”

Avery unzipped his fly, and pulled out his impressive member. Gloria watched as he stroked it slowly with his own hand to full erection, and then he nodded for her to begin.


About the Author:

Andrea Smith is a USA Today and Amazon Best-Selling Author of the G-Man Series! She has a wicked sense of humor. No matter the genre, she is able to infuse laughter throughout.

She self-publishes Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, and Sensual Romance with a paranormal twist. She also writes New Adult Romance, and has recently collaborated with Author Eva LeNoir on two M/M Romances, with the third in process!
  
Social Media Links

To sign up for her monthly newsletter, visit her website: http://www.andreasmithauthor.com/
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OTHER TITLES BY ANDREA SMITH

Baby Series
(Contemporary Romance/Suspense w/erotic tone)

These Books should be read in order
Maybe Baby (Book 1)
Baby Love (Book 2)
Be My Baby (Book 3)
Baby Come Back (Novella) (Book 3.5)

G-Man Series
(Contemporary Romance/Suspense w/erotic tone)

These Books do not have to be read in order, but they are most enjoyable if done so.
Diamond Girl (Book 1)
Love Plus One (Book 2)
Night Moves (Book 3)
G-Men Holiday Wrap (Novella) (Book 3.5)
These Men (Spin-off) Part of the BEND anthology. (M/F/M)
My Men (Sequel to "These Men") (M/F/M)
Taz (G-Man Book 4)

G-Man: Next Generation
(New Adult Romance)

Walk of Shame  (Book 1)

WTF? Series

Jaded

Limbo Series
(Contemporary Steamy Romance w/paranormal edge)

Silent Whisper
Clouds in my Coffee

September Series
(New Adult- Taboo)

Need to be read in order
Until September (Book 1)
When September Ends (Book 2)

M/M Romance

Black Balled (Co-Authored with Eva LeNoir)
Guns Blazing (Spin-Off from Black Balled)

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