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Monday, June 18, 2018

Cover Reveal: No One But You by Alexandra Silva

Book Description
QUINCY

They say bad things happen in threes…

I made a mistake. I kissed the right boy, but married the wrong man. They were friends. Best friends. Until my life fell apart.
Everything changed.
Something was stolen and then something was given in its place.
I had so much in my grasp, maybe it was too much because everything started slipping.
My son.
My husband.
My sanity.
Only one thing remained the same.
My first crush.
My first kiss.
My first love.

JAMIE

They say you can’t miss what you’ve never had…

But I swear I had her. At least for one kiss.
I left the right girl and tried to replace her with the wrong woman.
It didn’t work because I still missed her.
I promised my best friend I’d always look after his little sister. And our other best friend promised to never break her heart.
He lied.
I didn’t.

We have circled each other all our lives but our time never came.
We’ve never had our moment until now.
AVAILABLE: July 27, 2018

Excerpt:
“A penny for your thoughts?”
I swear every time he talks to me my heart just about explodes out of my chest. Jamie’s voice is so different. It’s changed. It’s deeper and rumbly, and it makes me think and imagine things that I don’t usually go out of my way to think about let alone imagine. It makes my belly do acrobatics and my mouth water.
How is that possible? How can his voice alone do that to me?
“Are you still angry with me?” He asks as he sits on the edge of the hot tub my parents had installed on the first floor balcony.
It’s such a pretty view. The water and the trees that surround one side of it with all the beautiful grey, white and light blue lake houses that line it in a cosy and enclosed U. You can just make out the green rolling hills surrounding us with the large church spire just about breaking the treeline. It’s just so wonderfully beautiful.
“I’m not upset with you,” I hear myself reply even though I am a little.
To be honest I think I’m a little more heartbroken that he’s leaving than I am angry. I was so looking forward to having Jamie around at Oxford, but he’s going to do an Overseas Exchange to UCLA so he can learn from some great minds like Doctor Wilson Weller—a teaching and practicing Neurosurgery god. Or whatever Jamie calls him. Phillip decided to stay close to home at UCL even though he got an offer to Oxford just like Jamie and Richard did three years ago. He doesn’t want to leave his new girlfriend, Jamie’s sister and one of my best friends, behind. I think I’m a little bit jealous of them, even if am happy for them. Jamie is just coming round to the idea, and I know that the only reason why he came to find me is probably because he still doesn’t know how to handle them being so touchy and lovey dovey with one another.
“You’re not?” He shuffles closer until the side of his thigh touches mine.
His legs are different too. They have a light smattering of hair that kind of matches his chest and the trail down from his navel. I can’t help but run my eyes down his slightly defined torso and down the light trail of fuzz that leads down to the top of his shorts, all the way down his shorts to his thighs and knees.
I’m so distracted by all his golden skin that I don’t even realise how fast my heart is beating until I feel the hammering in my chest pulsing up my neck to the back of my throat.
Seriously?
My skin heats as he wraps his arm around my bare shoulders. His thumbs lightly strumming the string holding my bikini top up around my neck. It’s like the sun shines brighter in that moment and the UV rays become laser strong and solely focused on me.
“Then why did you throw the Uni hamper we gave you in the bin?”
“Because it’s stupid. I don’t need wine and condoms and…”
“You say that now, but when you get there you’ll be thankful. You don’t want to be caught short, the dial-a-condom service isn’t as discreet or anonymous as you think.”
“Guys don’t even look at me like that.” I shrug.
He goes super still next to me. His arm becomes slightly heavier on my shoulders and his thumb tucks under the halter neck string of my red bikini top. He clears his throat and I can hear his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows.
“Quincy, that’s not true. Believe me, my sisters have made it a point to tell me every chance they get.”
He pulls me closer to him so that I have no other option but to rest my head on his shoulder.
“Why would they do that?” I mumble into the soft skin of his shoulder.
It’s shiny and taught. It wraps flawlessly around his lean muscled arms with the odd sun freckle here and there. He smells briny and citrusy. A combination of his cologne, sweat and the lake water.
I inhale deeply as his shoulders shake with humour.
Wait, why is he laughing at me?
“Why are you laughing at me?”
He clears his throat again before he sighs, “You have no idea.”
“No idea of what?”
Our eyes lock as I look up at him. His bright blue eyes are like ocean blue sparkling glass as the sun lights them up. They have these silvery grey flecks that bleed to the edges of his irises and form these thin dark rings that are only marginally lighter than his pupil.
“You’re so pretty…so beautiful…”
It’s like he can read my mind and steal the words on the tip of my tongue as he reaches for my hair with his hand and wraps it with my long tresses.
And if my heart wasn’t already hammering into my ribcage it’s now batter ramming its way out like it’s trying to break free or get closer to his heart.
I don’t know. All I know is that I can’t actually say anything. I can’t verbalise with the way that he’s looking at me. The way his eyes are eating up every inch of my face and the way they flitter down to my chest and then up to my lips.
His wet and shiny pink tongue darts out and moistens his lower lip before he draws said lip in with his teeth and bites down so hard that the blood and colour drain around the trenches his teeth have made.
I can’t help but mimic him with my own tongue and lips and teeth. He gasps lightly and as my eyes meet his again the pupils are so big that there is only a perfectly slim ring of silver speckled cerulean surrounding them. And I can’t breathe. The air feels too hot and dry. And thick? Why does the air feel so thick? It feels like I’m filling my lungs with invisible oil. My lungs feel so full that they have to push the air back out in deep and long unsteady breaths.
The arm around my shoulders falls and he brings his hand up to cup my cheek. And I know what’s happening because I’ve seen it in films and I’ve seen other people around us kiss. I can even kind of picture it in my mind—what we must look like right now. But I still can’t quite comprehend why he’s coming closer to me. Why his breathing is just as manic as mine. I can’t understand why he’s about to kiss me with wide eyes and desperate breaths. The hand in my hair tugs slightly and my face tilts marginally so that our lips touch.
Oh, God.
His warm lips are so soft and so tender as they brush over mine and I want to throw my arms around his neck, straddle his lap and just fucking devour him.
Fuck, I’m like some lust crazed person.
I don’t even know how I manage to stay so still with all those thoughts and all the electricity zapping through me.
I don’t know what to do next. If I should open my mouth or lick his lips. Whether I should touch him. I want to touch. I am touching him.
He’s groaning as he licks my lips and as my hands hold on to his waist so tight that my nails bite into his flesh. But then it’s not just my nails biting into his skin, it’s his teeth sinking into my lower lip. It’s his hand cupping my face so hard that I know it should hurt, I know that it’ll leave a mark, but I don’t care because it feels so fucking good. It’s his fingers weaving so tightly into my hair that the sting makes me want to pull on his hair too.
I can’t help the strangled moan that escapes my mouth as he slips his tongue inside and licks my own.
I’ve never kissed or been kissed like this before and even though I’m unpracticed and new to this, my hands seem to be in the know as they travel brazenly down his sides to the top of his swimming shorts and as unsure as I am, I know that I want to slip my hands under the elastic and become acquainted with every last inch of his sexy skin.
Shit, I don’t think I’ve ever used that word to describe another person, let alone a boy…a man. Jamie.
He grumbles a shallow growl right at the back of his throat as my fingertips skim around the navy elastic of his shorts. His tongue licks deeper and twirls around mine.
I want more. I want to tell him that I want it too, but I don’t want to stop kissing him back and I have this unsure tightness in chest that makes me bashful and fearful that he’d reject me anyway.
I want him to touch me in ways that I’ve only heard other girls boast and brag that they’d been touched. I want his mouth and his tongue to taste a lot more than just my own.
Before I even realize it we’re both standing in the middle of the warm, soft rolling water and his hands are squeezing my bum cheeks to the point that I think they’ll leave bruises. And it makes me feel excited in ways that I’ve never felt before and it makes me feel like a livewire.
All this and he never stops our kiss. His tongue tastes mine with a ferocity that feels like years of need all at once. I rove my hands up his sides and his back, relishing the feel of his muscles pulling and tightening under his hot skin. By the time my hands round to his chest and travel up to his hair our bodies are completely flush and my boobs feel even bigger and heavier than they already are. My nipples feel sore like they’re being pinched and pulled and there’s this familiar, yet new ache that’s building between my legs and the bubbling water is only making that ache stronger whilst making it feel better at the same time.
I’ve never felt the arousal of a man, but I can feel his and it’s pressing deliciously to my lower belly. I feel the heat creep up my neck and flush my cheeks and all I want to do is find a way of getting closer. My fingers tighten their grip in his sun bleached brown hair and I can’t help but pull him down to me, even as I feel him softly pull away.
No. Please don’t stop.
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Thursday, June 14, 2018

Playing for Keeps by Samantha Lind

Book Description
Friends with benefits—it never works. Someone always ends up wanting more.

What happens when both want more, but neither will tell the other?

Richard Murphy has been in the NHL for fifteen years, playing the game he loves. But with retirement looming in the next few years, he’s ready to settle down and start a family. There’s only one woman he wants that with, but she’s put him firmly into the friends—with benefits—category. Can he change her mind and heart, and prove to her he’s playing for keeps?

Madison O’Neal has been a lover of sports since she was young. She and her dad bonded over them, both during and after her mother lost her battle with breast cancer. Her love of sports led to a successful career as a sports agent. As much as she loves her job, what she really wants is a family—and someone to call her own. But the one man she’s head-over-heels in love with has her in the friends—with incredible benefits—category.

Can Madison and Richard find their way through the murky waters of friendship and become the lovers they secretly want to be?
Available: June 14, 2018 Indianapolis Eagles Series Just Say Yes (Book 1) - Scott and Becca Scoring the Player (Book 2) - Brian and Kinley Playing for Keeps (Book 3) - Richard and Madison
Playing for Keeps is the third book in Samantha Lind's Indianapolis Eagles series. Each book focuses on a different couple and I thought could be read as a standalone (even though times in each book may overlap a bit). Playing for Keeps focuses on long-time friends-with-benefits Richard "Murph" Murphy and Madison O'Neal. Each are to scared to reveal their true feeling for one another and could potentially lose out on their happily-ever-after.
After reading all three books so far in this series, I think Playing for Keeps is my favorite. I liked the characters in Just Say Yes. I didn't click with the characters in Scoring the Player (this book was just okay for me). But I really liked Madison and Richard in Playing for Keeps. I don't want to say to much about if or how these two get their act together and stop being so stubborn about their true feelings toward each other. Rating: 4 out of 5

**An ARC was provided by Give Me Books Promotions in exchange for a honest review.**

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Friday, June 8, 2018

Tall, Dark and Charming by Erika Wilde

Book Description

Aiden Stone loves life as a bachelor and has no intentions of settling down anytime soon. He has a great job and a career he enjoys, and women adore him . . . except for Daisy Parker, who doesn't seem fazed by his flirtatious attempts or the sexy smile that normally has panties dropping to the floor. She's a tougher nut to crack, but the fact that she seems immune to his charm only fascinates him more . . . until one hot unexpected encounter with her blows his mind and gives them both more than just a night of pleasure. Because Daisy is now his baby momma, and his life is about to change in ways he'd never anticipated.

AVAILABLE: June 5, 2018

Tall, Dark and Sexy Series
Tall, Dark and Charming (Book 1) Aiden and Daisy
Tall, Dark and Irresistible (Book 2) Leo and Peyton
Tall, Dark and Tempting (Book 3) Dylan and ??

Tall, Dark and Charming is the first book in Erika Wilde's new Tall, Dark and Sexy Series.

Aiden Stone and Daisy Parker have worked together (and work friends) for the past three years. Daisy was recently promoted, so now they are working more closely together. While on a business trip things heat up between them. But they both agree that they aren't looking for relationship and what happens on this business trip stay on this business trip.

At least that was their intention...

Fast forward three months later and Daisy finds out she is pregnant. (How you may ask, does someone not notice a missed period for three months...?? Well, as someone who has been pregnant 2x, sometimes you do have "spotting" that could kinda be mistaken as a very light period.)

Daisy says she is ready to raise this baby on her own. But will Aiden surprise her and be all in?

Rating: 4 out of 5

**An ARC was provided by the author in exchange for a honest review.**

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Tuesday, June 5, 2018

After I was His by Amelia Wilde

Book Description

Amelia Wilde presents an intense, emotional tale about a wounded warrior fighting his demons and the woman who captures his heart even as she pushes him to his limits.

Wes Sullivan is everything I loathe in a man.

Too strong. Too controlling. Too serious.
He left the Army, but that Army attitude won’t leave him.

And me? My spirit is so free that no man can contain me.
Screw rules. Screw routines. Maintain that element of surprise.

My only job is to get him to the church on time for a wedding.
Kissing him isn’t part of the deal.
Neither is falling for those lightning eyes, for that rock-hard body.

But beneath the bravado is a crack in his armor.
And his smile is a crack in mine.

With every kiss, we’re flirting with disaster.
This could end in heartbreak.
But you know what they say…
There’s only one way to find out.

AVAILABLE: June 5, 2018
Wounded Hearts Series Before She was Mine (Book 1) After I was His (Book 2)
After I Was His by Amelia Wilde is the story of Wes Sullivan (big brother of Summer in Before She was Mine) and Whitney (best friend of Summer). It all starts at when Whitney has to go hunt down Wes at Summer and Dayton wedding. And from there a relationship begins.
I haven't read Before She was Mine and I kind of feel like I am missing some of the story about Wes and Dayton's deployment and the cause of Wes' PTSD. It seems glossed over. I didn't feel the connection between Wes and Whitney. It seemed that all they were doing was complaining about each other. Wes was too rigid and set in his routine (to help with his PTSD) and Whitney was to carefree, flighty, and spontaneous. This book was just okay to me.
Rating: 3 out of 5

**An ARC was provided by Give Me Books Promotion in exchange for a honest review.**

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Monday, June 4, 2018

The Right Stud by Ilsa Madden-Mills and Tia Louise

Book Description

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills and USA Today bestselling author Tia Louise are back with an all-new romantic comedy filled with Southern sass and steamy scenes that will have you laughing out loud and fanning yourself. Pour the sweet tea and get ready…

“The best way to get over your sh**ty ex-fiancé is to get under a shiny new stud…”

As soon as Mr. Tall, Blond, and Handsome walks into that bar, I know he’s the hook-up I need to get over stupid Cheater Kyle.

A few stolen kisses in a dark hallway, and I’m pretty sure we’re headed for a home run—until he disappears without a trace.

Whatever. Men are all snakes in the grass, and I don’t need a new one anyway.

I resolve to forget about his perfect lips (and chest of steel) and instead focus on turning my Granny’s old beach house into a profitable B&B.

What I don’t expect is for him to show up the next day in my kitchen!

You see, my sexy mystery man is none other than Jax Roland, the drop-dead gorgeous home improvement star of The Right Stud, and he’s got an offer I can’t refuse.

With a suitcase in one hand and a hammer in the other, he wants to move in and renovate my old house while he films his new show.

But my roommate has secrets, and they threaten to rip our blossoming friendship—and possible love—apart.

When push comes to shove, is Jax really The Right Stud or is he just another nail in the coffin of love?

AVAILABLE: June 4, 2018

The Right Stud by Ilsa Madden-Mills and Tia Louise was a very enjoyable read. (Especially after the previous book I read). Set around a run-down B&B in need of some serious renovations, The Right Stud is a sweet, sexy, and (at times) laugh out loud read.

Jax Roland is on a blind date from hell when he sees her for the first time. The siren in the red dress. Little does he know that he'll be seeing that siren in the red dress the next day at her beachfront B&B to talk about restoring it. His goal with this renovation is getting his online show picked up by a television network, NOT falling for the beautiful owner or getting in between siblings on selling the property.

Ashton Hall is over men. After being catching her fiance cheating on her last year and being ditched at a bar by a mysterious stud, she's decided to just put all her focus into fixing up her late grandmother's B&B (The Couch Shell) making it a success and keeping her brother from trying to sell it to a real estate developer. But when she sees that her mystery stud from the previous night is none other than Jax Roland, the man from the online show The Right Stud, she has to work hard to keep their relationship professional.

I really enjoyed this book (especially after the book I read before this one that was AWFUL!!). The characters were interesting and the you could feel the chemistry between Jax and Ashton. This is a perfect beach read for the summer!!

Rating: 5 out of 5

**An ARC was provided by Give Me Books Promotion in exchange for a honest review.**

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