Tuesday, October 31, 2017

New Review! A Shining in the Shadows by Beverley Lee 4.5 Cranky Stars

A Shining in the Shadows (Gabriel Davenport #2)A Shining in the Shadows by Beverley Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 Cranky Stars


A Shining in the Shadows picks up one year later. The last we seen of Gabriel Davenport and his family at the manor their life was tossed in chaos and heartache. They are trying to pick up the pieces of their scattered life. Some are finding solace anyway they can while some are just drowning and barely living.


Gabriel Davenport is trying to adjust to his new life. Feeling on the fringes of something already established and yearning to return to his life at The Manor. He is on the move with Clove, Teal and Moth until they find the threat isn’t over yet. They must save lives once again possibly one of their very own. Gabriel doesn’t know what lies in wait for him but he’s going to face it head on. He has brotherhood and love on his side.


I loved this story but at times I was kind of confused. One minute it was first person then it would jump to third person with the other characters talking. Then at times things seemed so antiquated yet they had cell phones. Other than that Beverley Lee once again created a world of vampires and demons mingling with the humans. You see some familiar faces in this story. Olivia and Noah. Carver and Tom. Even some wicked ones we wish would stay gone. I would totally recommend this series to anyone who loves paranormal books. It has a little bit of everything yet the theme of this book is love. Sweet sweet love.



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New Review! Must Love Jogs by Xavier Neal 5 Cranky Stars

Must Love Jogs (Must Love Series Book 2)Must Love Jogs by Xavier Neal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 cranky stars


To say Abby is antisocial would be putting it mildly. Always hiding behind her cello is where she feels comfortable. Her best and only friend Dana is determined to blast her completely off. First, with a disastrous 5k and then forcing her to talk alone with the sexy cowboy Blake.


Blake is a ladies man on steroids. He doesn't do relationships he does one night stands. So, when cocky self assured Blake gets turned down by the only angel that he's ever met it throws him for a loop. But fate has plans for these two.


What a comical read this was with a bite of truth thrown in. Love sees no bounds in this book and the road blocks only make them stronger. Xavier Neil took a touchy subject and created a work of art. After all, it's love that makes the world go around.

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Sunday, October 29, 2017

New Review! Fall with Me by Jayne Frost 5 Cranky Stars

Fall with Me (Sixth Street Bands #2)Fall with Me by Jayne Frost
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



***** 5 Cranky Stars *****

If you are a fan of rocker romances, then you are going to love Fall with Me by Jayne Frost. This romance novel was so well written that I did not want it to end. Normally I am wary of romance stories from the male POV but the author nailed it. I almost felt like I was seeing everything through Christian’s eyes.



I really enjoyed his first meeting with Melody. I love how the most mundane setting can lead you to the love of your life. Seriously the romance world needs to take note that you can meet the love of your life in everyday settings. How the characters interacted with one another is what kept me glued to the story. Everything was realistic.



Jayne Frost did an amazing job with this story. I cannot wait to read other books by her. I give this story five stars.

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Saturday, October 28, 2017

New Review! The Girl Who Saved Ghosts by K.C. Tansley

The Girl Who Saved Ghosts (The Unbelievables, #2)The Girl Who Saved Ghosts by K.C. Tansley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 Cranky stars


Magic, murder, ghosts, and time travel part 2.


While this isn't the ideal stand-alone second book, it's a wonderful continuation of the first. Without reading the first book, you'll be lost.

Kat is returning for her senior year of high school followed by ghosts who want their reckoning. Given that she only recently re-accepted the existence of Unbelievables, she works towards helping when she can. That is, of course, until she discovers that a malevolent force called the Dark One is out to destroy her. She then decides to travel to Dumbarton to find answers. With the help of Evan, and two great aunts she only recently found out existed, she fine tunes her powers as a priestess (what a witch is called in this world) and attempts to solve yet another murder mystery while trying to save herself.


Traveling back in time to 1831 Vienna, Kat and Evan learn more about Kat's family and the relationship between all of the families mentioned in the first book. But will they find what Kat needs in time and get out of the past alive?


Just like the first book this is a super fun ride. The time traveling aspect of it is well done and keeps your interest so well you feel like you're actually a part of that world. The characters are well written and perfectly developed. The grammar, writing style, and flow of the story are near perfection. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun and engulfing read.

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Friday, October 27, 2017

Cover Reveal! Unexpected Arrivals by Stephie Walls

Cover Design: Wicked by Design
Release Date: November 20, 2017
 

Synopsis

It had to be a joke. Any minute now, a van would drive up and Ashton Kutcher would slide the door open, laughing hysterically at my melodramatic performance on the front porch. But nothing happened. The words on the page jumbled into a toxic mess my brain refused to comprehend, much less accept. Please consider this letter as a formal request to arrange a paternity test (DNA). I barely remembered Chelsea Airy. That wasn’t true—we’d gone out once, and we’d been friends for a while after. But I hadn’t heard so much as a peep from her since I’d gotten married. I’d reached out a handful of times, but she’d quit responding and fell off the face of the earth. There hadn’t been a text, an email, a phone call, not even a Facebook message, much less a stork in the last five years. My wife could forgive a lot, but she’d never wanted children—much less another woman’s.  

Goodreads

 

   

Giveaway

One of Five ARC's for Unexpected Arrivals
 
 
 

About the Author

Stephie Walls is a literary whore - she loves words in all forms and will read anything put in front of her. She has an affinity for British Literature and Romance novels and an overall love of writing. She currently has ten novels out, four short stories, and has collaborated in several anthologies/collections with other authors; all tales of real love and romance.  

Connect with Stephie

 
Newsletter Sign Up: http://bit.ly/2rwxvkc
Facebook Author Page: http://bit.ly/2sysMyC
Facebook Reader Group: http://bit.ly/2sF1DJI
Goodreads Author Page: http://bit.ly/2sgQ7C1
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2rBGmfq
BookBub Author Page: http://bit.ly/2xrnqnN

Release Blitz! Lost Before You by Brooke O'Brien

  

 Author Brooke O'Brien
 Lost Before You (Heart's Compass #2)

Cover Designer: Cover Art © Najla Qamber, Najla Qamber Designs



 New Adult 



I wish someone would’ve warned me about the dangers of falling in love with your best friend. 
I was no stranger to covering up my problems with meaningless sex and alcohol. 
When Brea asked me for one night to help her forget, I craved being the man she needed.
Just sex.
No commitment.
Then she begged me to promise her nothing would change between us. I couldn’t bring myself to lie to her.
One night.
One broken promise.
I will never forget the night I fell in love with my best friend, and now nothing will ever be the same.

*Lost Before You is an interconnected stand-alone. You do not need to read Where I Found You to enjoy this book.*


$25 Amazon Gift Card and a Signed Paperback of Lost Before You
To Enter: Head on over to Brooke O'Brien's Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/authorbrookeo) and visit the Pinned Post.


Amazon US: amzn.to/2yAKnHQ
Amazon UK: amzn.to/2zB4fcd
Amazon CA: amzn.to/2yVAm9G
Amazon AU: amzn.to/2zmIVqg



"Brooke O’Brien’s Heart’s Compass series provides a quiet refuge for lost hearts waiting to be found. Lost Before You is both sweet and satisfying, friends to lovers romance packed with intense friction yet you’ll still feel the heat long after your heart goes up in flames." - Giovanna, Goodreads Reviewer

"I didn't think it could get any better than Callum Reid, but I just hadn't met his brother Mason yet!" - Amber, Book Obsessed Blog

"Lost Before You by Brooke O'Brien is emotional, extraordinary, and completely unforgettable. It's a love story that felt real and was profoundly beautiful to read. Brea and Mason will make your heart pitter patter, and ovaries EXPLODE!" - Julia, The Romance Rebels



Where I Found You (Heart's Compass #1)

 How do you protect your heart?
Build a wall.
Lock it away.
Let no one in.
Everyone should have a childhood worth remembering. Only I remember mine for all the wrong reasons. Starting over in a new town is hard enough. When you are running from your past, it doesn't get any easier.
I was ready to say goodbye to the burdens I have carried. The pain I’ve experienced is more than anyone should have to face.
Then I met him...
He takes my breath away. I can’t ignore the way he makes me feel. I know he has the power to destroy me.
And that's what scares me the most




Brooke O’Brien is the author of the Heart’s Compass series. Her debut novel, Where I Found You, released in May 2017. The second book in the Heart's Compass series, Lost Before You, will release on October 27th.

Brooke lives in the Midwest with her high school sweetheart and their three children (both human and furry). Growing up Brooke always had a love of writing; she started out writing poetry when she was young and began journaling her thoughts as she grew older. Diving headfirst into a good book has always been therapeutic for her. Now her two passions have collided.

She believes you can cure any bad day with chocolate. Brooke enjoys going on long drives with no destination in mind. She's found that's when her characters talk to her the most! If she's not reading or writing, you'll probably find her spending time with her family, watching NBA basketball, going to the movies, or collecting signed paperbacks.


Join Brooke's Book Babes Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/brookesbookbabes



Thursday, October 26, 2017

Release Blitz! EXP1RE by Erin Noelle































































































Numbers.
They haunt me.
I can't look into a person's eyes without seeing the six-digit date of their death.
I’m helpless to change it, no matter how hard I try.
I’ve trained myself to look down. Away. Anywhere but at their eyes.
My camera is my escape. My salvation. Through its lens, I see only beauty and life—not death and despair.
Disconnected from all those around me, I’m content being alone, simply existing.
Until I meet him.
Tavian.
The man beyond the numbers.
How can I stay away, when everything about him draws me in?
But how can I fall in love, knowing exactly when it will expire?





































































PROLOGUE
Lyra

10.18.02
The intercom crackles loudly throughout the classroom, interrupting Ms. Sherman’s rather uninspiring Friday afternoon lesson on the life cycle of a star. Even though most of the students around me are furiously jotting down notes about nebulas, red giants, and supernovas, I’m half listening while I doodle caricatures of me and my friends in the margin of my notebook. It’s not that I’m not interested in the material she’s talking about. No, that’s not the case at all. It’s quite the opposite actually; science is my favorite subject, especially anything that deals with astronomy and the unknowns in our universe.
But with a dad who is a super-smart astronomer at Johnson Space Center—or NASA, as most people here in Houston call it—I learned about this stuff she’s teaching before I ever started kindergarten. Heck, just this past summer before fifth grade, Mama and I went to visit him at a planetarium in Hawaii, where he was part of a team that discovered eleven new moons orbiting Jupiter! If I don’t ace this test next week, I better not even go home. I definitely wouldn’t be able to be an astronaut then.  
“Ms. Sherman, can you please have Lyra Jennings gather her things and come down to the office? She’s leaving for the day,” the office lady who reminds me of Paula Deen—Mama’s favorite chef—announces through the ancient intercom system.
At the sound of my name, my chin jerks upward from my pencil sketches to the standard black-and-white classroom clock mounted above the projection screen. The hands read 12:45 p.m., nearly three hours before the end of the school day, when my parents are supposed to pick me up as we head out to Dallas for the weekend to celebrate my eleventh birthday. Ooh, maybe getting out of school early was my surprise they mentioned!
I’ve been looking forward to this day since we came home from this same trip last year, and I know my parents planned something special for this year. Every birthday, instead of having one of those silly kids’ parties with pointy hats and piñatas, they take me to the Texas State Fair. There, we spend the weekend riding as many rides as possible, stuffing our mouths with sausage-on-a-stick and fried Twinkies, playing games until we win the biggest of the stuffed animals, and laughing until our faces hurt and happy tears stream down our cheeks. Hands down, it’s my favorite three days of the year, even better than Christmas. And I really, really like Christmas.
Excitement jets through me as I stand up from my desk and hurriedly cram my spiral notebook and textbook into my purple paisley backpack. If we make it there early, I’ll be able to go swimming at the fancy hotel’s indoor pool before dinner.
“Sure thing,” my teacher calls out in response. “She’ll be right down.”
Hoisting the strap of the bag up on my shoulder, I turn to leave the room and my gaze meets Ms. Sherman’s. Her warmth shines in her bright amber-colored eyes, highlighting the numbers 051123 that I see imprinted in her pupils. The same six white numbers I see every time we make eye contact. The numbers I’m not allowed to talk about. The ones everyone thinks are all a part of my healthy imagination.
But they’re wrong. They’re all wrong.
The numbers are real, and they never change or go away. I only wish I knew what they meant. Mama and Daddy—who, by the way, are the only two people I know that have the same numbers—call it my special superpower, but I know they just pretend to believe me. I see the looks they share when they think I’m not watching. They don’t want me to think about all those things the doctors say about me. I may only be ten years old, but I’m 100% sure I’m not crazy, nor do I lie for attention. I’m an only child, for Pete’s sake; my parents are overly interested in my life. Though I do appreciate their support, even if they don’t understand.
“Have a nice weekend, Lyra. Don’t forget we have a test over CHAPTERs six through eight on Monday. Make sure you’ve read all the material,” she reminds me.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll be ready,” I reply modestly, not sharing with her or the rest of the class I’ve already read through CHAPTER thirteen in the text, including answering the study guide questions at the end of each section. I may be an overachiever, but I’m not a brown-noser.
Luckily, school just comes easy for me, and my parents get over-Jupiter’s-moons proud when I bring home straight A’s on my report card. It reassures them that I’m normal and well adjusted. At least that’s what I heard Mama whispering to Daddy on the phone one night when she thought I wasn’t listening.
I mouth a quick goodbye to my best friend, Beth, who I pass by as I scuttle toward the exit. With her last name being Blackmon and mine being Jennings, we rarely get to sit near each other, as most of our teachers put us in alphabetical order. Beth’s numbers are 022754, and like Ms. Sherman’s, they light up vibrantly when she looks up at me and mouths the words Have fun before I slip out the door.
I never want to break the rules or get in trouble, so I somehow fight the urge to sprint down the deserted hallway and force myself to walk as fast as my long, skinny legs will let me. The swishing sound from my denim shorts rubbing together fills my ears, creating a soundtrack for my excitement. My cheeks ache from smiling so big while I drop off my folders and books in my locker then make a beeline to the front of the school, where my parents are waiting for me. This is going to be the best of the best weekends ever, one that none of us will ever forget. I just know it.
Only, when I swing open the glass door to the main office, expecting to see my favorite two people in the world, I’m surprised to find my Aunt Kathy standing there, her face puffy and pink, the corners of her mouth pointing due south. Our eyes meet, and I can barely see her numbers—123148—because of how swollen the lids are around them.
The fluffy white cloud of elation I floated in on disappears instantly as a dark fog of dread takes its place. Engulfing me. Swallowing me whole. She doesn’t have to say a word—I already know. Not how or when or where it happened, but deep in my bones, I know.
I was right. This will definitely be a weekend I’ll never forget, only it will be for reasons I’ll never want to remember.
“I’m so sorry, Lyra baby girl,” she cries. “I’m so sorry. They’re… they’re gone.”
gone.
        Gone.
                   GONE.
The word bounces around between my ears, getting louder each time it echoes. The first time, it freezes my movements. The second steals all the air from my lungs. By the third time, I’m pretty sure I have no pulse. I want to go, too.
Go.
       Going.
                     GONE.
With my feet stuck to the floor and my body stiff as a statue, Aunt Kathy rushes over to me and wraps her arms around my shoulders. Pulling me up against her chest as uncontainable sobs shake her body, she breaks down in front of the receptionist and attendance clerk, neither of who bother to hide their open staring. Numb, I stand completely still while she wails for several minutes, and I never once make a single sound or try to break free from the death grip she has on me. My thoughts race so fast they’re standing still.
I’m just… here. And my parents just… aren’t. And they won’t ever be again.
They’re… gone.
Climbing into the passenger seat of Aunt Kathy’s fancy sports car—a car I usually beg to ride in because there’s no backseat—I fasten my safety belt and then close my eyes as I lean my head back on the black leather, warm from the hot southern Texas sun. Even though it’s mid-October, I’m still wearing shorts and sandals, and just last weekend I went swimming at Beth’s house. But as I sit here and wait for my aunt to start the car, my teeth chatter loudly and my entire body trembles uncontrollably. My heart is frozen solid, but I’ve yet to shed a tear.
The phone rings and I jump, automatically looking at the caller ID on the screen, thinking… hoping… praying it’s someone calling to let us know this has all been a big mistake, that my parents are really okay.
“Hey, Mom,” Aunt Kathy answers after just one ring. We still haven’t pulled out of the parking space. “Yeah, I have her now. She’s safe and sound.”
My heart plummets even lower into my stomach than it was before as she pauses to listen to Granny Gina on the other end. Granny Gina is my dad and Kathy’s mom who lives in New Orleans, where she moved about five years ago after my grandpa passed away from lung cancer. Since my mom’s parents both died before I was born, she’s the only living grandparent I have, and luckily for me, she’s a pretty awesome one. But today, nothing is awesome. Not even close.
“I don’t know. She hasn’t said a word. I’m sure she’s in shock.” My aunt talks about me like I’m not sitting right here, as I finally feel the car jerk back in reverse.
Another pause. The car lurches forward into drive then we bounce hard as Aunt Kathy flies over a speed bump. I think I’m going to throw up.
“Okay, I’ll take her home so she can pack a suitcase of whatever she wants to bring, and then we’ll go to my place until you get here. You should be in about 5:00?”
Pack a suitcase of what I want to bring where? Where am I going? Why is this happening to me? I’m a good kid. I make good grades and I’m nice to people, even those people who everyone else makes fun of, and I listen to my parents and my teachers. What did I do to deserve this? Why me?
“Yeah, Mom, I know,” Aunt Kathy hiccups. She’s crying hard again. “I’ll take good care of her, and we’ll see you later. I love you.”
I keep my eyes screwed shut as she disconnects the call, scared she’ll want to talk if I open them. I don’t want to talk to her or Granny Gina or anyone but my parents. I want my mom and dad!
Thankfully, Aunt Kathy doesn’t try to talk to me as we drive, but when I feel the car come to a stop and hear the engine turn off, she gently taps my arm. “Lyra, sweetheart, we’re at your house. We’re going to go inside, and I need you to pack up a suitcase or two of the clothes and things you want to take to New Orleans. Whatever you need.”
“New Orleans?” My lids snap open and I whip my chin in her direction. I don’t even recognize my harsh, scratchy voice. “I’m going to New Orleans?”
“Yeah”—she nods sadly as she swipes at the black mascara streaks on her face with her thumbs—“with Granny Gina. After we take care of, uh, of everything here, you’ll go live with her there.”
Scowling, I cross my arms over my chest and grunt. “I don’t want to leave Houston, or my friends, or my school. Why can’t I stay here with you?”
“You know I travel with my job, Lyra. Sometimes I’m gone a week or two at a time, and there won’t be anybody here to stay with you. Granny Gina’s house has an extra bedroom, and since she doesn’t work, she’ll be able to better give you everything you need.”
What I need and will be better for me is my mom and dad. And my perfect birthday weekend at the fair.
She reaches out to attempt to soothe me with her touch, but I wrench away, banging my elbow on the car door in the process. The whack is loud, and the place I hit immediately turns red, but my brain doesn’t register the pain. I feel nothing. I’m broken.
I glance over at my aunt, and the tears spilling down her cheeks make me feel bad for acting the way I just did to her. What happened to my parents isn’t her fault, but I’m angry and this is all moving too fast. How am I supposed to pack up what I need in a couple of bags? I want to stay in my room, in my house, living with my parents.
“I know this is all unfair, baby,” she says through her sniffles, “and I can’t even to begin to understand what you’re thinking or feeling. I mean, I’m freaking the hell out and I’m a grownup who’s supposed to know how to handle these kinds of situations. All we can do is cling to each other as family and try to get through this together. Between me and Granny, we’ll do the best we can for you, and right now, we think the best thing is if you get your things and go stay with her.”
“How did they die?” I blurt out, completely off topic from what she’s talking about. My mind can’t stay focused on any one thing, but this is the question that keeps popping up. “I need to know how it happened.”
Swallowing hard, Aunt Kathy inhales a shaky breath through her nose and blows it out through her mouth, visibly trying to collect herself before she answers me. “It was a car accident,” she whispers after forever, barely loud enough for me to hear. “I don’t know why they were together in your mom’s car this morning or where they were going, but an eighteen-wheeler lost control and hit them. They were already gone by the time the first responders arrived.”
I nod, still unable to cry. I hear the words she’s saying, but they aren’t really registering. They make sense, but I don’t understand. It’s as if I’ve been swallowed up by one of the black holes Daddy taught me about and the darkness is sucking away my ability to think, to feel. All I hear is the word “gone” still replaying over and over and over.
“Okay. I’ll get my stuff,” I say flatly, finally opening the door and stepping out of the car.
My movements are robotic, and I can barely even feel the key in my hand as I unlock the front door to my house. Stepping inside, I’m overwhelmed by a combination of the sweet smell of my mom’s favorite vanilla cookie candle and the sight of my dad’s fuzzy slippers waiting by the coatrack—the slippers he puts on the minute he walks in the door from work every night. When I realize he’ll never wear those slippers again, nor will my mom ever be able to forget if she blew out the candle when we’re about to pull out of the driveway, an acute pain shoots through my chest and I stumble over to the staircase, grabbing the banister to keep my balance.
“I’m right here, Lyra,” Aunt Kathy murmurs from behind me as she slips her arm around my waist. “Let’s just get your things and head over to my place. Later, once we’ve had some time to deal with everything, we can come back to go through the house and all the stuff… if you want.”
Another nod and I let her guide me up the stairs to my room. I want to scream at her that there will never be enough time to deal with losing my parents, that I’ll never be able to go through their things, but I keep my lips pressed together and do as I’m told.
“Where do you guys keep your suitcases?” she asks, glancing around my room as if she’s doing an inventory of what I have. “I’ll go grab a couple while you start pulling out what you want to take. If you forget something, it’s no big deal, because you and Granny are going to be staying at my place for the next few days. I can just bring you back to get it, or I can even ship it to Louisiana if you remember once you’re there.”
“They’re in the storage cabinets in the garage,” I answer while walking over to my desk, my eyes locked in on a framed photo of me and my parents that sits next to my laptop.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
The thud of her heels on the hardwood floor grows quiet as she makes her way back down to the first floor, and just as I grab the picture and plop down on the chair, I hear her open the door to the garage. A few much-needed minutes by myself.
I gaze down at the photograph of the three of us from a day at the beach, me sandwiched between their cheerful, carefree expressions, and the first tear finally escapes. Once the dam breaks, I can’t stop the flow, and as I trace my finger over the outline of each of my parents’ faces, I cry for everything I’ll never have again. A supernova of tears.
Faces I’ll never see smile again.
Voices I’ll never hear say my name again.
Arms I’ll never be hugged by again.
A never-ending galaxy of love that I’ll never feel again.
It’s all just… gone.
After several minutes of vision-blurring bawling, I set the picture frame back upright on my desk. A hot pink heart drawn on my calendar with the words Birthday Weekend Begins written over today’s box catches my attention. I then notice the printed numbers next to my bubbly handwriting that read 10-18-02.
Snatching the picture up again, I stare directly into first my dad’s eyes, and then my mom’s. The numbers I see when I look people directly in the eyes only happens when I’m face-to-face with someone, never in photographs or through a screen or mirror. But even though I can’t actually see the numbers right now in the picture of my parents’ pupils, their numbers are forever etched in my brain from looking at them every day of my life. I used to think the reason they had the same numbers meant they were true soul mates, like God made them to match perfectly together, but now….
My gaze flicks over to today’s date of 10-18-02, then back to my parents’ faces, where I envision their numbers—101802.
My plummeting heart collides with my lurching stomach in an explosion of realization.
It’s my Big Bang Moment.
























About Erin Noelle USA Today Bestselling Author

Erin Noelle is a Texas native, where she lives with her husband and two
young daughters. While earning her degree in History, she rediscovered her love for reading  that was first instilled by her grandmother when she was a young child. A lover of happily-ever-afters, both historical and current,Erin is an avid reader of all romance novels.

Most nights you can find her cuddled up in bed with her husband, her Kindle in hand and a sporting event of some sorts on television.