Wednesday, 26 March 2014

Review ~ Lifers by Jane Harvey-Berrick

**ARC Received for honest review**

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 Stars

“You’ve turned…into a life sentence for all of you – for Paul, for Jordan. You turned them into lifers.”

This book was certainly an emotional rollercoaster and the writing was absolutely flawless! This is one of those books that makes you “feel” and as I have said in numerous reviews, that is a really special talent. Yes this story is sad in parts, it is emotional, it has you thinking and is extremely thought provoking, but the genius here is that Jane Harvey-Berrick has written her heroine (Torrey) with such an amazing sense of humour that even when I was crying, in the next heart beat I was laughing. This book is perfectly balanced, I totally and utterly loved it and I could not put it down.

Torrey was a girl that you couldn’t help but fall in love with; she has had more than her fair share of knock backs and this has left her very mis-trusting. After her latest failed relationship, she plays the field, desperate to never feel that sense of loss again. She literally puts up a wall on her emotions and her dalliances with the opposite sex are purely that, after all it is just sex, just a release. Having relocated back to her mum’s whom she hasn’t had a relationship with for over 10 years; she gets a mundane job in a café while taking a break from her career as a paralegal. One day in walks Jordan Kane, the world stops, he seems to be the local pariah but Torrey is fascinated and that is the day the world changed for them both.

Jordan Kane, I totally and utterly fell for this guy, hook, line and sinker. He had me the minute he walked into that café. You cannot help but be drawn into his story; he is out on parole, having had to move back to his parents as one of the conditions. This is a small town, everybody knows everybody and of course they all know yours and everyone else’s business. He is un-liked, unloved and unwanted by everyone, including his parents. He is desperate for some acceptance, some love, anything. He feels extremely guilty for what has happened and cannot live with it, he feels that he needs to be constantly punished so takes all these knock backs as his retribution; this is the life that he feels that he deserves. The trouble is, he doesn’t and until he can accept that, he will never be able to live or love, at the end of the day it was an accident and he needs to learn to forgive himself first and foremost.

“And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.””

Jordan’s story is heart breaking, intensified by the extremely emotive writing of Jane Harvey-Berrick. She certainly pulls you in, captivates you and doesn’t let you go till the very last page. I seriously cannot gush about this book enough. This is a love story and it is this slow but sure tale that has you totally and utterly entranced. You want them both to succeed, you want them both to love and most importantly you want them both to heal. They are truly perfect for each other. Torrey’s no-nonsense and shoot from the hip attitude are just what Jordan needs to keep him grounded, she reigns him in when he falters, she gives him solace when he needs it, but no matter what she is always there for him no matter how hard sometimes he tries to push her away. It is Jordan’s huge heart that will have you melting, with Torrey working her magic, slowly bringing the real “Jordan Kane” back to life, you start to see the real man emerge and once he does you just love him all the more. It is this huge heart, his passion, his loyalty and his sincerity that finally break down any remaining walls Torrey had erected.

“every time I think it couldn’t be better than the last time, but every time it is. Every time I think I’ve had the best there is, you teach my body something new. I can’t get enough of you, Jordan Kane.”

This is a must read, it is one of books that touches you, that will stay with you and one that I feel I will certainly be reading again. I totally and utterly loved it. Go forth and 1click, you won’t be disappointed!

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Release Day Blitz with Giveaway ~ Passion and Ponies (Chocoholics #2) by Tara Sivec


Passion and Ponies (Chocoholics #2)
by Tara Sivec
Release Day: March 25, 2014
 
 
Book Description:
 
Ava Gilmore has the perfect life. She’s surrounded by people who love her, she’s having sex on a regular basis and her Coach bag collection just grew by three. The problem? She’s expected to follow in her family’s footsteps at Seduction and Snacks, working with sex toys and baked goods.

Ava loves vibrators and cupcakes as much as the next person, she’d just rather play with them than sell them. With her shopping addiction reaching an all time high and her credit card bills piling up, Ava decides to put her obsession to good use and start a fashion blog. But she has one other problem - the guy she’s having sex with has a My Little Pony addiction.

While dealing with her family’s disappointment and confusion over her choices, she finds support in the unlikeliest of places – Tyler Branson. Tyler has slowly wormed his way into her bed, her a$ and her heart and he refuses to leave. Tyler has his own family problems to deal with and for the first time ever, Ava finds herself feeling bad for the annoying, immature guy and chanting “Friendship is magic!” during the sex she’d swore to stop having with him.

Ava needs to get her life in order once and for all before she finds herself doing something she never wanted to do – fall in love with a Brony.
 
 
 
Teaser Picture:
 
 
 Facebook Party!

 

Join in on the facebook party here: https://www.facebook.com/events/528591413920253/530801773699217/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity

About the Author:

 Tara Sivec is a USA Today best-selling author, wife, mother, chauffeur, maid, short-order cook, baby-sitter, and sarcasm expert. She lives in Ohio with her husband and two children and looks forward to the day when they all three of them become adults and move out.

After working in the brokerage business for fourteen years, Tara decided to pick up a pen and write instead of shoving it in her eye out of boredom. She is the author of the Playing with Fire series and the Chocolate Lovers series. Her novel Seduction and Snacks won first place in the Indie Romance Convention Reader’s Choice Awards 2013 for Best Indie First Book.

In her spare time, Tara loves to dream about all of the baking she’ll do and naps she’ll take when she ever gets spare time.

Tara also writes under the pen name T.E. Sivec. Check out the page for T.E. Sivec for more information.
Tara Sivec Links
Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Website

Giveaway!

  

Monday, 24 March 2014

New Cover Reveal ~ Unteachable by Leah Raeder

Unteachable by Leah Raeder has a new cover!
 
Check it out here!

 
Book Description:
 
An edgy, sexy USA Today bestseller about falling for the one person you can’t have.

Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.

But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.

When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.

That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.

Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.

Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
 
 
 
Buy Links:

EBOOK (on sale March 24, 2014)

AMAZON: http://amzn.to/1iv2nUo
AMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/1hUXSAy
ITUNES: http://bit.ly/Q8nxP5
BARNES & NOBLE: http://bit.ly/1m2Ih4Q

PAPERBACK (on sale November 11, 2014)

AMAZON: http://amzn.to/1gjoGNi
AMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/1gjp12x
BOOKS A MILLION: http://bit.ly/1gSwZLr
SIMON & SCHUSTER: http://bit.ly/1pt9Y6W
 
Author Links:

Blog Tour ~ Review, Giveaway & Sneak Peak link ~ Under the Orange Moon by Adrienne Frances

Adrienne Frances and Bandit Publishing are excited to share with you the RELEASE of “Under the Orange Moon” by Adrienne Frances.
 
Make sure to check out the preview on itunes, add to your Goodreads, pick up your copy and enter the AMAZING GIVEAWAY below for a KINDLE PAPERWHITE, SIGNED PAPERBACKS, Amazon & iTunes GIFT CARDS!  
 
Also, don’t forget to join us at the Release Day and Blog Tour Event starting on March 20th – join by clicking the below link. 



Genre: New Adult/Contemporary/Romance

Book Description:

Dylan Mathews grew up in a house that was always filled with good-looking guys. However, with four protective older brothers they never stood a chance.
 
Except for one.
 
Dylan knew she loved Ben McKenna from the first time she laid eyes on him. When he started sneaking in her room, she thought he felt the same way. But just as their passion ignited, he left for college and never came back. Until now.
 
Returning home after 5 years, Ben realizes Dylan has always been the one for him. Can he win back her heart and finally find love under the orange moon?
 
 
Our Review:
 
**ARC Received for Honest Review**
 
Reviewed by Donna ~ 4 Stars

"Boys are stupid," she recalled him saying. "They never know a good thing until they've run it over a few times."

Wow, where to start with this one?? This book, whilst being a beautiful love story also makes you think and I love books that make you think. The heroine, Dylan, has the perfect family; they are extremely loving, extremely protective of each other and are always there for each other. Ben on the other hand has had quite the opposite upbringing. His Dad, a highly successful lawyer, separated from his mum, leaving behind a deeply heartbroken woman, seeking solace in pills and alcohol she has never been able to live any kind of life since he left. This left Ben to pick up the pieces and basically bring himself up. His mother showing him little to no affection as Ben was most certainly his father’s son and unfortunately looked so much like him. Just looking at Ben made her think of the husband she lost and unfortunately destroyed any bond they once had. Luckily Ben was childhood friends with all the Matthews children though, he was like an adopted son and brother to them all and they always made him feel welcome and where he was lacking in love and guidance, the Matthews gave it to him in spades.

I must admit, I did find it hard to accept that a mother would do that to her one and only child, I appreciate it does happen, but it made it hard to read. My heart literally broke for Ben when you finally understood the family dynamic he had, especially with his mother. The total bitterness and resentment she had towards him was unfathomable and I truly felt for him and could understand why he had little to no patience for her.

Dylan on the other hand, was the silent, beautiful, extremely gifted artist. Being the only girl of the siblings and the youngest she had protection from all sides. She had always loved Ben and as it turned out Ben had always loved Dylan. At night, Ben would sneak into her room and they would talk and sleep, a boy of very few words, but it was in these one on one moments that you actually got to see the real Ben. The brothers saw the cocky, arrogant player, but Dylan always got to see his soft side. This did bring back memories of another book I have read but it was by no means the main plot line.

“I know you better than anyone, Dylan. I don’t have to live here to prove that.”

The lack of love between his parents and his less than ideal upbringing gave Ben an inferiority complex when it came to Dylan. Even though he loved her he felt that he did not deserve her and his internal ramblings also made my heart break. He tried to take the first step before going to uni to do his law degree but he held himself back in fear of recriminations from his second family, he didn’t want to run the risk of upsetting them, when in his mind, he didn’t deserve and he certainly wasn’t good enough for Dylan.

Eventually their paths cross again and we are left with the conundrum of are either of them going to be strong enough to fight the connection they have between them or will they finally give in and give their relationship a chance?

I loved this book, hard! It was beautifully written, deep, meaningful and extremely emotive. I connected and fell in love with these characters. I never had a fear that Ben wasn’t good enough, behind the façade you saw the true person he was underneath and his love for and his connection to Dylan never wavered and I was just rooting for him to get the nerve and finally believe in himself and take that chance. Yes there we times he was a complete jerk and I wanted to jump into the kindle and give him a slap, but you could always see the reasons why and it always came back to this stupid inferiority complex he had. I could have throttled his parents.

“Just know that you are worthy of what you want and what I someday hope that you are man enough to have.” – Carl Matthews (Dylan’s dad)

“Be the man that won’t let anyone else’s demons get in the way of what he wants and what he knows to be right.” – Carl Matthews


This book will have you running the gamut of emotions, but as I said it is a story that makes you think. Being a mother it makes you realise how your own family life sculptures that of your children, how what you do and what you say has an inherent effect on them and if not ideal how it can also determine their future. It is a story of love, resentment, forgiveness and learning to shape your own future and not to dwell on the past. It is a story of how a selfless woman manages to finally break through those walls and make a man believe in himself again, he is good enough, he is who she wants and all she has ever wanted. These two were truly soul mates and it is now up to them to shape their forever.

A fab read from another debut author, this one I will certainly be watching and waiting for that next release.
 
Buy Links:
 
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/NpTEY7
 
You can read a sneak peek of the book at iBooks

 
About the Author:
 
Adrienne Frances spends her time as a writing consultant at a university near her home. In her spare time, she loves to be with her husband and two sons, who have made her exactly who she is today. Writing is a passion that she has appreciated for as long as she can remember. She believes that a wild imagination is a terrible thing to waste and should be captured and brought to life by all that are blessed to have one. This way of life is what led her to become a writer and later an author under Bandit Publishing. Her first celebrated novel, Under the Orange Moon, is set to release in March.
 
 
 
Tour Giveaway: