January 27, 2015

Blog Tour: Parting Chances by Caylie Marcoe



The road of Haley Cavanaugh’s life has been filled with cracks, potholes and detour signs. Her mom’s cancer forced her to grow up too fast and her brother has moved across the country instead of sticking around when she needs him most. Now, her parents are forcing her to move out. They say she needs to follow through with the plans she’s set for herself, but Haley is torn between her dreams and her family’s reality. The only thing she has to look forward to is living with her best friend, Kyler.


What she doesn't need right now? Eli Park. Haley remembers him as Kyler’s boyfriend’s geeky roommate, but he’s anything but geeky now. Now, he's downright hot. And Haley cannot get him out of her head.


It would be easier if they didn’t have class together five days a week. Or have weekly study dates. And if she didn’t spend way too much time with Kyler at Eli’s house. But, the closer he gets and the harder she falls, the more Haley pulls away. Her heart is too fragile to end up broken on the side of the road. She thinks she’s got it under control until Eli brings home another girl and Haley realizes what she has to lose.

As Haley’s life is turned further upside down, will she be left to pick up the pieces of her heart alone?


Parting Chances is available for purchase:
   


Excerpt


I swung back and forth for a while, letting the breeze settle my nerves. I don’t know how long I was out there for, but eventually, I heard a car pull up. The door shut and footsteps thumped up the stairs. 

“Hello,” a masculine voice drifted towards me. 

I opened my eyes and was greeted with crystal blue eyes, messy brown hair, a lopsided smirk and six feet of tall, lean man. 

“Er…um…hi,” I croaked out. Okay…the man was gorgeous. Pretty sure I was blushing.

“Haley?” gorgeous mystery man asked. 

I nodded. I didn’t know who this guy was, but he seemed to know me. And if I opened my mouth to ask him, I’m sure I would sound like an idiot again. 

He gave me that adorable lopsided grin again. “Eli.” He pointed at himself, like I should know who he was. Eli was leaning against the porch railing, staring at me with amusement in his eyes. Maybe if he wasn’t so damn attractive I could get my brain to start working again. But for now, I could only stare. 

“You don’t remember me, do you?” he asked. “The four of us hung out together when I roomed with Noah in the dorms.” 

Holy shit. This man in front of me couldn’t be Noah’s roommate. There was no possible way he was the same guy. I hung out with the kid all the time, and this guy…no, not him. Not him at all. 

“You look nothing like you did freshman year.” I blurted out. Then quickly turned red and clamped my hand over my mouth. 

Oh God, he’s going to think you are the biggest idiot. 

Eli laughed. “I was a lot scrawnier back then. Had longer hair. Wore thick framed glasses all the time.” His voice still sounded the same. That was something at least. “When I moved back home to help my mom, I worked with my uncle at his construction company. I guess that helped me gain a little muscle.” He shrugged like he was not confident with how he looked. 

The more I stared at him, the more he was becoming familiar. Freshman year, he was this quiet, slightly nerdy kid. He always wore comic book t-shirts. He had spent most of his time on his computer or playing video games with Noah. Kyler had kept telling me that he had a crush on me, and she even begged me to go out with him a few times, but I always came up with reasons I couldn’t. Mostly those excuses dealt with my crush at that time—Drew. Blah. I was so not going to think about that douche when Eli was standing in front of me. 

I mean, I enjoyed hanging out with him as a friend, but dating? He was definitely not what I thought my type was. Though, what I thought my type was turned out to be a bunch of jerks, so maybe I should have given the nice guy a chance. 

“You okay?” he asked gently, pushing off the railing and taking a seat next to me on the swing. “You seem lost in thought.” 

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. 

“You don’t remember me, do you?” 

“Oh no, I do.” 



What an emotional read. If you got through this book without shedding a tear, you're a robot. If you haven't read this book yet? Make sure you have a box of Kleenex handy. This book reminded me of the books I used to read by Lurlene McDaniel...full of terminal illnesses, death, dying, sad stuff. The only catch is that this intertwines a much deeper love story than Lurlene's books normally did. For that reason, I loved Parting Chances. It did more of what I liked with a bit less of the sad stuff!

That being said, I found that this book was all about Haley which is the only reason I didn't give it a full five stars. I felt that Eli was a bit underdeveloped. We get the sense that he's an awesome guy who's set on waiting for Haley until she's good and ready for a relationship. He puts up with a lot of crap from her and has the patience of a saint...but beyond that, we really know nothing about him. And I wish we did! There's not a big story around his character, he's just there and awesome, so it seems. On the otherhand, Haley is fully developed and there's so much about her character and how she's growing as a person and dealing with her mother's situation. 

Great book, though, I definitely enjoyed it. It is totally and heart-wrenchingly a page turner even know you sort of know how it's going to end. I definitely recommending this to anyone who loves a tear-jerker!



About the Author

Born and raised in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin, Caylie fell in love with reading at a young age. With her lively imagination, she created numerous stories in her head throughout her childhood and teenage years. 

Her first novel, Choose Us, released in April 2014 and became an Amazon Bestseller. Parting Chances is her second novel. She also released a short story sequel to Choose Us, titled Forever Us. She is part of the writing group, The Rebel Writers, who are a group of like-minded word-nerds, determined to take over the literary world, one book at a time. 

When she isn't slaving away at the keyboard, Caylie is an avid reader, and lover of coffee... copious amounts of coffee. She also has an unhealthy addiction to coffee mugs, chapstick, water bottles, football, and tv shows--binge watching is her favorite. 

She chases her two kids around the house all day, and has a husband whom she adores.

Connect with Caylie on:
     





January 23, 2015

Cover Reveal: The Way We Fall by Cassia Leo

Today we have the cove reveal for Cassia Leo’s The Way We Fall! I love this cover, AND Cassia is sharing an excerpt, as well as the playlist for the book. Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for all the fantastic extras!!

The Way We Fall | Cassia Leo
Contemporary Romance | Releases February 20th

From New York Times bestselling author Cassia Leo comes a twisted and passionate love story that pushes the boundaries of loyalty.

Maybe we shouldn’t have fallen so fast and so willingly.

Maybe we shouldn’t have moved in together before we went on our first date.

Maybe we should have given our wounds time to heal before we tore each other to shreds.

Maybe we should have never been together.

Houston has kept a devastating secret from Rory since the day he took her into his home. But the tragic circumstances that brought them together left wounds too deep to heal.

Five years after the breakup, Houston and Rory are thrust together by forces beyond their control. And all the resentments and passion return with more intensity than ever.

Once again, Houston is left with a choice between the truth and the only girl he’s ever loved.

**The Way We Fall is the first book in The Story of Us Series, which follows the tumultuous love story of Rory and Houston. The sequel, The Way We Break, will be released Spring 2015.**


Available for $0.99 only during preorder and for the first 48 hours after release. 
Preorder on iBooks: http://bit.ly/1Af66hs 


Exclusive Excerpt

“I need to talk to you about the work situation,” he says as he follows me out. “I got the contract, but I want to make sure you’re okay with this before I sign it.”

“You want to know if I’ll be okay working with you?” 

I slide the key into the doorknob and Houston places his hand over mine to stop me from turning the knob. “I can’t go in there with you. Please stay out here until we’re done talking.”

I shake his hand off and turn around to face him. “There’s nothing to talk about. You have to sign the contract. The way I feel about working with you shouldn’t matter.”

“But it does matter. I don’t want to upset you. You were there first.”

I can’t help but laugh. “So this is a territorial thing? You think because I was there first that I have some sort of right to keep you out?” His left eyebrow shoots up the way it always does when he’s confused and it nearly renders me mute. “Houston, if I didn’t work there you wouldn’t think twice about signing that contract. So that’s what you should do. Just… please stop making this into something it isn’t. We hardly know each other anymore, and that’s the way it’s going to remain.”

He swallows hard as he lets this sink in. “I guess you’re right. I’m sorry I bothered you. I only wanted to… Never mind. I’ll get going. I have to get up early to go sign that contract. Not that you care.”

He shakes his head in disappointment as he walks away and I’m glad I don’t have anything solid in my hand other than Skippy’s leash or I might throw it at the back of his head. So I’m the one who doesn’t care? Ugh. Typical Houston and his endless psychological games.

Maybe I should have told him to walk away from the contract, but that would have meant admitting that he still has a strong hold over me. It also would have been the truth and the truth has never gotten me into trouble. In fact, the truth is something my previous relationship with Houston was sorely lacking. 

Nevertheless, I don’t need to right the wrongs we made while we were together. I don’t need to tell Houston that the sight of him makes my throat dry and my stomach flutter. He doesn’t need to know that I still go to sleep with scenes from our life together playing on repeat in my mind. Or that sometimes I wake up with his name tumbling from my lips, the remnants of dreams where he never left and nightmares where he hovers just out of reach.

Before Wednesday, the last time I had seen Houston was the day after he met me at the Planned Parenthood clinic. I didn’t ask him to come, and I don’t know how he found the date and time of my appointment, but he was there when we pulled into the parking lot. Lisa, a girl from my Social Inequality class whom I’d had coffee with a couple of times, had graciously agreed to take me to the clinic. The moment I saw him leaning against his truck, I knew I had to send Lisa home. Houston would insist on taking me back to the apartment after the procedure, to watch over me.

It was the last thing I wanted, to have Houston doting over me after terminating the pregnancy. But it was also the only thing I wanted. It was as if he was performing the last rites on our dead relationship.


Check out the playlist for The Way We Fall:



About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassia Leo loves her coffee, chocolate, and margaritas with salt. When she’s not writing, she spends way too much time watching old reruns of Friends and Sex and the City. When she’s not watching reruns, she’s usually enjoying the California sunshine or reading – sometimes both.

Connect with Cassia Leo on:
     




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January 19, 2015

White Trash Damaged & A Song For Us by Teresa Mummert

Rocker Tucker White saved down-and-out waitress Cass Daniels from everyone in her life who was hurting her—except herself. In the much-anticipated follow-up to White Trash Beautiful, Teresa Mummert’s New York Times and USA Today bestseller, Tucker and Cass are finally together, but does that mean they get their happy ending? 

Living on a tour bus with your boyfriend’s rock band is nothing like living in a trailer with your drug-addicted mother—except for the drama. After all the pain and grief that marked the beginning of Cass and Tucker’s relationship, they’re finally building a life together—just the two of them, his three bandmates, some groupies, and thousands of screaming fans. And not everyone is as happy about the couple’s reunion as they are. 

The last thing Cass wants to do is create friction within the band—especially when Damaged is on the brink of achieving the success Tucker has worked so hard for. She’s thrilled to finally be with a man who loves and protects her as much as he does. But how can she carve out a place for herself in this new rock star world . . . without being swallowed by the shadow of Tucker’s fame?


White Trash Damaged available for purchase:
     


In this highly anticipated follow-up to White Trash Damaged, Cass and Tucker have finally found their happily ever after, but can Eric, the band’s brooding drummer, ever let go of his past and find love?

From a small-town boy with fantasies of superstardom to rock star on tour with the suddenly famous band Damaged, Eric’s life has not been an easy journey. Now he struggles to let go of his past of physical abuse, a past that still haunts him. His anger is causing him to spiral out of control and he risks losing everything he has worked so hard for.

Only one person has ever gotten him to open up about his past: Sarah, the lead singer of Filth, the opening act on their first national tour—a fellow rocker with a confident façade that masks her own painful secrets. But their bands’ rocky past and Sarah’s tumultuous relationship with her bandmate and boyfriend Derek force her to keep Eric at a distance. As their friendship begins to grow into something more, Eric has to find a way to let go of his tortured past, or it could jeopardize his only chance for a happy future...


A Song For Us is available for purchase:
     


I waited awhile to finish this series because I enjoyed White Trash Beautiful (read my review here) so much. I didn't want to wait for the third book to come out so I waited until they were both out....and then I got caught up in a whole to-read pile and just recently go to read these. Then I fell behind in reviewing. Story of my life. Oh well.

Alright, so White Trash Damaged was a great follow up to WTB. It picks up where WTB ends off--when Tucker saves Cass (literally) from, essentially, what is her life. Knight on white horse sweeps her off into the sunset...which, in Tucker's world equates to sweeping Cass off to join him in his world, with his band and his rock-star life. I loved that, unlike most books that end off in a "and they lived happily ever after" and you don't hear about the characters ever again, we get a second wind of Cass and Tucker. It delves into more development of their two characters and the struggles they have with each other, and themselves. Cass is finally getting to stand up on her own two feet--she's got to figure out if she truly fits (or wants to fit) in this fantasy world Tucker has swept her into. For Tucker, we go through his struggles with him--trying to balance his career and life dream with his feelings for Cass, and their somewhat fragile relationship. I loved this addition to the series. I felt it truly enriched the story as a whole and gave some closure to readers from the first book.



In the third and final book in the White Trash trilogy, A Song For Us, we switch gears and we get a bit darker and angstier than Cass and Tuck's relationship. This book is all about Eric, a bandmate of Tucker's, and Sarah, a member of another band they're touring with. They're both from really messed up pasts (a common theme in this trilogy) and kind of lean on each other to get on with life but in the process they mess each other up. I actually didn't like Sarah for most of the novel. I felt like throwing things at her because she stayed on with her boyfriend, Derek, despite his cheating ways. WHO DOES THAT? We know from her POV that she's totally obsessed with Eric but she can't seem to leave Derek and I can't seem to understand that. Eric doesn't win many more bownie points with me, either. I'm not a big fan of his womanizing ways. Yes, he's trying to distract himself from not being able to have Sarah to himself but I don't agree with him using his band manager, Donna, to distract himself for the time being. I truly felt bad for her. The journey that Sarah and Eric have in this book is a long and torturous one. Though I didn't hate this book, I think I much preferred Tuck and Cass' story...


January 16, 2015

Book Blitz: Ripple Effect by Kristin Mayer





Every event in our life causes a ripple effect that we never truly understand until the waters calm and everything reveals itself. It’s in that moment we truly see… 

Adam Ryker, owner of Club Envy, has his rules. Relationships stay within the walls of the club. Outside of that, people are merely acquaintances. After having his heart broken, he’s not interested in the happily ever afters and white picket fences. Adam’s interests lie in his club and giving pleasure to women. 

Ainsley Pearson wants to be free. She needs an escape from her life. Her best friend suggests Club Envy. From the moment Ainsley sets foot in the club, Adam decides he wants to be the exclusive one to bring her pleasure. 

He wants her. 

He needs her. 

He has to have her. 

Adam finds himself wanting more. 

Will this unforeseen ripple in Adam’s and Ainsley’s lives be too much to overcome? Or will the one thing they never thought they deserved have an everlasting effect?


**Ripple Effect is book one of The Effect Series.**

Ripple Effect is available for purchase:
     





Exclusive Excerpt

She moved her head to one side. “I’m not a submissive. I don’t know the ins and outs of all that, but I know that’s not for me.”
She was all business, and I liked that about her. She wasn’t doing all that lovey-dovey giggle shit. 
I relaxed my posture in my seat since she hadn’t said no. “I’m not asking for a submissive. We’ll both give each other what we need on equal ground. We’ll never do anything you are uncomfortable with.”
She let my words absorb. My eyes kept going to her top. It was a low-scoop green silk shirt. The club was cold, and as she shifted, I could make out the faint outline of her nipples. 
Ainsley also relaxed her posture slightly as she leaned back in the chair. “And what do you need, Adam?”
“To fuck you hard, countless times, to be buried so deep inside you while you scream in pleasure—that’s what I want out of this, Ainsley. Lust and sex, that’s it.”


About the Author

Kristin Mayer is a wife, a proud mother, and a full-time Analyst and Import Manager. Since an early age, she has always enjoyed reading and writing. While visiting her father one weekend, he suggested that she should take up writing again. With family and a career, she didn’t give it a lot of thought, until a story entered her mind and wouldn’t leave. It just kept forming and developing over a couple of months. 

At the beginning of 2013, she decided to sit down and write it all down, but she kept it to herself. One sentence developed into two, and before she knew it, she had the makings of a novel.

Kristin tries to live life to the fullest during every moment. She loves to travel and meet new people. She holds a degree in International Business and uses it daily in her job. Kristin now adds “author” on her list of jobs, and feels very blessed and thankful.

Connect with Kristin Mayer on:
     



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