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Friday, October 31, 2014

Review: Seduced By Stratton by Katy Regnery

Seduced by Stratton (The English Brothers, #4)
Seduced by Stratton by Katy Regnery
The English Brothers #4
November 4, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance 18+
Contains: sex and strong language
Source: eARC for Honest review


Stratton English, the hottest, youngest, most devastatingly handsome CFO in Philadelphia, has a problem: women make him nervous. Really nervous. Catastrophically nervous. Socially awkward to an extreme, he’s apt to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind, and it’s rarely something a woman wants to hear. Quietly in love with his neighbor, Amy, he has no idea how to make his move, but he is committed to figuring out a way to seduce her.

Valeria Campanile, who Stratton knows through one of his four brothers, is a PhD candidate who moonlights as a dance instructor on the side. Ironically, even though Val studies Courtship Rituals, she can’t seem to find herself courted. Pursued by boys from the “old neighborhood” who promise to overlook the fact that she’s so smart, she longs to meet someone who romances her mind as well as her heart.

When Stratton helps Valeria with a financial problem, she is anxious to return the favor. But will Stratton, who needs Val’s expertise to win Amy, find himself seducing Val instead? 

"Seduced by Stratton" is the fourth of six books about the Philadelphia-based, wildly-handsome English brothers who are all on the look-out for love. *All books in The English Brothers series are approximately 200 pages. The RWA classifies this as "Mid-length Contemporary Romance."


One of the things I loved about Katy Regnery's writing is the way she writes characters that, even if I can't personally relate to them, the way they think, the way they speak, the way they come across instantly pulls me into their psyche and their life. In every story, whether its a playboy or a virgin, a starlet or an ugly ducking, confident or shy, damaged or optimistic - I have been able to walk in all their steps. Stratton's story is no different.

I was so excited to finally get to Stratton's story. There is such a prevalence of reads about 'players' out there, and while they can be entertaining, my personal preferences lie within the funny and the smart, the nerdy and the awkward. Basically, I like a guy who's a little different. Stratton fit my expectations to a 'T'. I loved learning about him in all his socially awkward glory. Did he frustrate me at times? Definitely. But that is part of what is so endearing about him. But have no worries - he's still a sexy, manly, genuine English brother through and through.

Valeria is a true trooper. I loved her combination of vulnerability and determination. She is intelligent and talented, beautiful and sexy, and yet despite all these qualities, she has yet to find someone to really appreciate who she is. Watching the relationship between her and Stratton develop had all the elements of anxiety and hope, excitement and cringe-worthy moments, and the beautiful realization of love. I really admired how Valeria handled it all. It was such a fascinating and unique situation (which I won't spoil), and I was impressed by how it all came together.

Stratton and Valeria are such a lovely couple. Despite my anxiety, or maybe because of it, I loved their story. This entire series holds such heart-warming romance, and I love that we continue to get snippets about the other couples as well. Katy has become one of my go-to authors when I need that romantic fix. And Stratton may have just stolen the place as my #1 English brother.

 
 
GOODREADS  --  AMAZON
 
Don't forget the other books in the series!
Breaking Up With Barrett (#1)

Falling For Fitz (#2)
 
Anyone But Alex (#3)
My Review  --  Amazon  --  Goodreads

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

(Adult) Review: Last Light by M. Pierce

Last Light (Night Owl, #2)
Last Light by M. Pierce
Book 2: Night Owl trilogy
October 28, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance 18+
(Contains: graphic sex and strong language)
Source: eARC for Honest review

Tensions rise, secrets grow bigger, and passions run deeper—and hotter—in Last Light, the second novel of the Night Owl Trilogy from bestselling author M. Pierce.
Matt Sky is missing. After a solo ascent of Longs Peak that left only a large blood stain, tatters of climbing clothing, and the tracks of an animal in the snow, he is presumed dead.

Hannah Catalano is guarding a secret: she knows Matt is alive. After Matt's memorial service, she lingers on the East Coast with his family, but it soon becomes clear that his brothers' motives are less than gracious. Nate Sky is bent on tracking down the author of Night Owl, a book that charts the last days of Matt's life with uncanny and scandalous accuracy, and which appeared only after his death. Seth Sky is bent on getting Hannah into his bed.

Hidden away in the woods, Matt and Hannah strive desperately to maintain their ruse and their relationship—but their web of lies only tightens as Matt struggles with the consequences of his decision, and Hannah tries to escape Nate's libel suit and fend off Seth's advances...until Hannah is put in danger, and Matt must make a life or death choice.


What a crazy ride, once again! Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the craziness of Matt and Hannah's relationship or their choices, Last Light is written in prime form. Pierce is a gifted writer who not only draws his readers into an exciting and well-plotted book with beautiful imagery and depth, but also writes characters who are intriguing - even addicting - and who bring all your feelings to the surface, from frustration to sympathy and everything in between. This is a fully engaging, multi-dimensional reading experience.

We pick up where Night Owl left off, more or less, with Matt's anonymity extinguished and him making bold and questionable choices for his future. As the choices Matt has made - living as a dead man - and Hannah's choice to support him unfold and play out, I felt like I was on the edge of my seat. I felt all the emotions Matt and Hannah felt, I worried over all the holes in their plans, I cringed at some of the things they did separately, I shook my head at their lies, I warmed to their intimacy, and I questioned their future. Seriously, this book had it all and I was completely hooked until the very last page.

As many emotions as I had for Matt and Hannah - both good and bad - one thing I love about them is their imperfections. These are not perfect people, Matt especially. They have issues far and wide, Matt especially. Matt really is a piece of work. But there is this quality to his characterization, perhaps the blend of man and child in him, that is also endearing, even when you want to punch him in the junk and make Hannah run away. Hannah is engaging in her own way in that you want to see her as the "normal" person in an entirely unique situation. Their relationship is truly fascinating. And I like that as these books progress, Hannah's inner strength and maturity also progress. I can't wait to see what these two do next.

But there are still questions. Of course, what is going to happen next with Matt and Hannah is the million dollar question. Additionally, I'm so very, very curious about Seth Sky. I did not see him as a bad guy. Was I supposed to? I don't know. I really want to know more about him, and whatever beef he and Matt have from the past. I'm really hoping we get more of him in the next book as well. Looking forward to the final book and all the unpredictability I have come to expect!

*Note: There is a reason the Night Owl Trilogy is labeled as erotica. It full embraces that title. Be forewarned if you choose to read it.

 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18744040-last-light
 
 
iBooks  *  Kobo

Book 1 in the Night Owl Trilogy:
Night Owl (Night Owl, #1)
Night Owl by M. Pierce
February 11, 2014
Contemporary Erotic Romance 18+ 

"Tautly written, complex, and vibrating with a dark sensuality that will have you at once blushing and anxious. You'll think you have this book pegged . . . but you'll be wrong."—Christina Lauren, New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling authors of The Beautiful Bastard series

From bestselling ebook author M. Pierce comes the first novel in a provocative erotic trilogy where an anonymous online writing partnership turns into an uncontrollable, passionate obsession

At twenty-eight, Matt Sky has the perfect life. He has a beautiful girlfriend, a massive inheritance, and four national bestsellers -- all penned under his airtight alias, M. Pierce.

At twenty-seven, Hannah Catalano is a train wreck. Her boyfriend is a deadbeat and her job is abysmal.

Matt and Hannah meet online as writing partners. Their relationship is safe, anonymous, and innocent...

Until Matt sees a picture of Hannah. Hannah's picture sparks an attraction Matt is powerless to ignore. When circumstance brings Matt and Hannah together, the strangers begin a love story that's passionate, poignant, unforgettable, and unstoppable.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18744040-last-light

iBooks  *  Kobo

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Release Day & Giveaway: Last Light by M. Pierce


Last Light (Night Owl, #2)
Last Light by M. Pierce
Book 2: Night Owl Trilogy
October 28, 2014
Contemporary Erotic Romance 18+ 
Tensions rise, secrets grow bigger, and passions run deeper—and hotter—in Last Light, the second novel of the Night Owl Trilogy from bestselling author M. Pierce.

Matt Sky is missing. After a solo ascent of Longs Peak that left only a large blood stain, tatters of climbing clothing, and the tracks of an animal in the snow, he is presumed dead.

Hannah Catalano is guarding a secret: she knows Matt is alive. After Matt's memorial service, she lingers on the East Coast with his family, but it soon becomes clear that his brothers' motives are less than gracious. Nate Sky is bent on tracking down the author of Night Owl, a book that charts the last days of Matt's life with uncanny and scandalous accuracy, and which appeared only after his death. Seth Sky is bent on getting Hannah into his bed.

Hidden away in the woods, Matt and Hannah strive desperately to maintain their ruse and their relationship—but their web of lies only tightens as Matt struggles with the consequences of his decision, and Hannah tries to escape Nate's libel suit and fend off Seth's advances...until Hannah is put in danger, and Matt must make a life or death choice.
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18744040-last-light
 
iBooks  *  Kobo

Other Books in Night Owl Trilogy:
Night Owl (Night Owl, #1)
Night Owl by M. Pierce
Book 1: Night Owl Trilogy
February 11, 2014
Contemporary Erotic Romance 18+ 

"Tautly written, complex, and vibrating with a dark sensuality that will have you at once blushing and anxious. You'll think you have this book pegged . . . but you'll be wrong."—Christina Lauren, New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling authors of The Beautiful Bastard series

From bestselling ebook author M. Pierce comes the first novel in a provocative erotic trilogy where an anonymous online writing partnership turns into an uncontrollable, passionate obsession

At twenty-eight, Matt Sky has the perfect life. He has a beautiful girlfriend, a massive inheritance, and four national bestsellers -- all penned under his airtight alias, M. Pierce.

At twenty-seven, Hannah Catalano is a train wreck. Her boyfriend is a deadbeat and her job is abysmal.

Matt and Hannah meet online as writing partners. Their relationship is safe, anonymous, and innocent...

Until Matt sees a picture of Hannah. Hannah's picture sparks an attraction Matt is powerless to ignore. When circumstance brings Matt and Hannah together, the strangers begin a love story that's passionate, poignant, unforgettable, and unstoppable.
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18744040-last-light

iBooks  *  Kobo
 
 After Dark (Night Owl, #3)

After Dark by M. Pierce

Book 3: Night Owl Trilogy

March 24, 2015

Contemporary Erotic Romance 18+ 
 
In the final novel of the Night Owl Trilogy from bestselling author M. Pierce, can a passion that has withstood many ordeals become a love strong enough to last a lifetime?

At twenty-nine, Matt Sky is trying to return to normal, having faked his death and come back to life. He and Hannah move to a simple house in the suburbs, and strive to grow their relationship into something durable and honest. They become more and more entangled, in the best ways possible.

At twenty-eight, Hannah finally has the life she's always wanted: she's pursuing her career as a literary agent at Granite Wing Agency, she is writing her first solo novel, and she is living with her hot, passionate lover. For the first time, Matt and Hannah are able to explore intimacy without inhibitions—without lies, secrets, or jealousy—and the results are explosive.

Still life together is not as easy as it seems. Matt is estranged from his brothers in the wake of his cruel stunt; Seth Sky, embittered by his failed pursuit of Hannah, makes a play for Hannah's sister; and the topic of Hannah's novel—her relationship with Matt and the Sky family—is driving a wedge between her and Matt. The lovers are devoted to one another, having come through many ordeals, but is their bond strong enough to last a lifetime?


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18744040-last-light




iBooks  *  Kobo
 
            Matt insisted on carrying me to the bathroom. I hugged his neck.

            “Matt, you realize I can walk with a black eye, right?”

            “I’ll be the judge of that.” He set me on the counter and I squeaked; the marble was frigid under my bare bottom. He dropped one of my bath bombs in the tub and watched it fizz and color the water purple.

Once, I managed to convince Matt to use a bath bomb with me. It was called a “sex bomb” and it was supposed to “put us in the mood” with “exciting scents” and “natural pheromones.” I grinned at the memory. As soon as Matt realized the bomb was coating his skin in sparkles, he leapt out of the tub ranting about “looking Twilighty” and “smelling like a girl.”

            “What’re you grinning at?”

            “You.” I smiled. “And this bath, which is such a transparent effort to avoid saying goodbye. Sweet… but transparent.”

            Matt frowned and paced the small space of the bathroom. Ha! I was right. Matt planned to leave me in the tub and slip away.

My poor, adorable night owl—he really had issues with goodbyes.

            “No,” he mumbled. “Maybe…”

            “Can I induce you to stay a little longer?” I uncrossed my legs deliberately and spread them. Matt watched. He folded his arms and tilted his head.

            “How does your cheek feel?”

            “They’re cold.” I grinned.

            “And you say I’m bad.” He slid me off the sink and turned me. I watched our reflection through the patchy steam on the mirror. Matt—God, he was so tall, and the look on his face was arresting. He wanted me. I knew that look.
  
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M. Pierce is the bestselling author of Night Owl, book one in the erotic Night Owl Trilogy. The author lives in Colorado and owns a rabbit named Laurence.


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Release Day & Giveaway: All Broke Down by Cora Carmack

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Yowza! We are extremely excited to bring you the Release Day Launch for Cora Carmack's ALL BROKE DOWN!! ALL BROKE DOWN is a New Adult Contemporary Romance novel being published by HarperCollins, and it is the 2nd book in The Rusk University Series.

All Broke Down

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In this second book in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cora Carmack’s New Adult, Texas-set Rusk University series, which began with All Lined Up, a young woman discovers that you can’t only fight for what you believe in . . . sometimes you have to fight for what you love.

Dylan fights for lost causes. Probably because she used to be one.

Environmental issues, civil rights, corrupt corporations, and politicians—you name it, she’s probably been involved in a protest. When her latest cause lands her in jail overnight, she meets Silas Moore. He’s in for a different kind of fighting. And though he’s arrogant and infuriating, she can’t help being fascinated with him. Yet another lost cause.

Football and trouble are the only things that have ever come naturally to Silas. And it’s trouble that lands him in a cell next to do-gooder Dylan. He’s met girls like her before—fixers, he calls them, desperate to heal the damage and make him into their ideal boyfriend. But he doesn’t think he’s broken, and he definitely doesn’t need a girlfriend trying to change him. Until, that is, his anger issues and rash decisions threaten the only thing he really cares about, his spot on the Rusk University football team. Dylan might just be the perfect girl to help.

Because Silas Moore needs some fixing after all.

 
I think I get it then. That decision I saw in her eyes back in the kitchen. That’s what this, what I’m about for her, too. I’m just another part of whatever rebellion she started earlier today. About doing what she wants, not what’s expected of her.
“We’re not talking about me, though,” she says. “So you went to meet your friend, and then what happened?”
She keeps her eyes down as she picks up the gauze and begins winding it snugly around the knuckles of one hand, and then the other.
“He said the wrong thing.”
“Which was?”
“Dylan.” Now it’s her that’s pushing too hard. I didn’t want to talk about things with my friends, and I won’t talk about them with her, either, no matter how gorgeous she is.
“I’ll guess. You were mad about what he did, and he wasn’t sorry.”
“This isn’t middle school, Pickle. He didn’t hurt my feelings. He said some shit he had no business saying, and it pissed me off. The end.”
“But you don’t think some of that anger stems from what you feel is a betrayal of your friendship?”
She finishes taping down the last of the gauze, but doesn’t let go of my hand.
“I think you’re analyzing me again. Making things more complicated than they are.”
“And I think you’re just a guy who doesn’t like to admit he has feelings.” She drags out the word, teasing me with some goofy smile on her face. I turn my hand over so I can clutch her wrist. I curlmy other bandaged hand around her waist and pull her closer.
“I feel plenty of things.”
The teasing stops. She swallows.
“I wasn’t talking about that kind of feeling.”
With her standing and me sitting, I’m eye level with her chest. I see the sharp rise and fall as she sucks in a breath. I want her in my lap again, straddling me this time.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t talk about that kind of feeling. Or experiment with it.”
“Is that Stella girl an ex?”
I cough, surprised. My throat twists uncomfortably, and it takes me a couple of solid breaths to get a hold on myself.
“Ah, no. Stella and I have never dated.”
“Have you—”
“Do you ever run out of questions?”
“Not ever.” She turns playful again, and I’m done doing this the careful way. If she wants a rebellion, I’ll be the one to give it to her. I want her against me, and I’m tired of waiting.
I pull her forward, insinuating my knees between hers, and her body naturally follows, settling across my thighs. Her lips part, but she catches herself before she gasps this time. I keep her steady with my hands at her waist and say, “I’ll make you a deal. A question for a kiss.”
Tentatively, she lays her palms against my shoulders. They rest there, her grip light and casual. She ponders my offer for a moment, and it drives me mad that she can do that while our hips are inches away from alignment.
“Okay then. Are you—”
I cut her off. “Not so fast, Dylan Brenner. I’ve already answered one question. We’ve got to settle up first.”
I wrap her braid around my hand like I’ve been waiting to do all night, and I use it to pull her head back just enough that I can crush my mouth against hers.
 
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And don’t forget to grab your copy of ALL LINED UP Today!

All Lined Up

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HeadshotAbout Cora Carmack: Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.  

   

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