NEW RELEASE - HOOKED!

Hooked, my first new adult romance, released on February, 3, 2015! Hooked was inspired by a trip I took to Venice Beach, California a few years ago. I fell in love with the gritty charm of Venice—the graffiti art, the street vendors on the boardwalk, the skate park, the Santa Monica pier, and Muscle Beach. I just had to write a story about the kind of girl who would not only live there, but fall in love with a place like that.

Hooked is almost a month old and I'm very excited about the reviews it's getting. Interested in reading it? Here is the synopsis and some of my favorite teaser images.


SYNOPSIS:
If you ask the confident and snarky skater girl, and she’s in the mood to share, she’ll tell you her name is Cat. She might even tell you that she’s hooked on graffiti, 80s movies, and having fun—the riskier the better. Cat will share a good time with you, but she won’t ever trust you enough to share her heart. It’s protected by secrets and she’d like to keep it that way. 

Cat knows one thing for certain: Love isn’t really her thing. 

If you ask the confident and rich pretty boy, he might tell you his name is Huck. He might even tell you he loves a challenge and is used to getting his way. He won’t tell you that his life is a mess because he risked his heart by trusting the wrong girl. Huck is ready for a change, he just wasn’t ready to get hooked on someone like Cat. 

Huck knows one thing for certain: Love hasn’t done him any favors, but Cat just might be worth the risk. 

Cat and Huck think a one-night stand seems harmless, but when all the little secrets they didn’t share turn out to be toxic truths, they realize how easily a one-night stand (or a few) could ruin everything. 

The thing is, you can be ruined in more than one way. Once you’re HOOKED, what wouldn’t you risk for the chance at more?


TEASERS:

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Book Review – Twisted by Emma Chase

Title: Twisted
Author: Emma Chase
Series: Tangled
Published: March 2014


SYNOPSIS:

When spontaneous and carefree meets cautious and responsible, falling in love can get just a little Twisted.

There are two kinds of people in the world. The ones who look first, and the ones who leap. I’ve always been more of a looker. Cautious. A planner. That changed after I met Drew Evans. He was so persistent. So sure of himself – and of me.

But not all love stories end happily ever after. Did you think Drew and I were going to ride off into the sunset? Join the club. Now I have to make a choice, the most important of my life. Drew already made his –in fact, he tried to decide for the both of us. But you know that’s just not my style. So I came back to Greenville. Alone. Well, sort of alone....

What I've come to realize is that old habits die hard and sometimes you have to go back to where you began, before you can move ahead.

TWISTED picks up two years after Tangled’s end, and is told from Kate’s POV.



MY REVIEW:

Emma, can we be best friends? Because seriously. If you're half as funny in person as you are in writing, we need to be besties. But I'm kind of an introvert, so maybe we should just do this whole friendship thing online. Okay? Perfect.

So Drew and Kate. They are a messed up kind of beautiful. When they're on track, they're sickeningly sweet in love and wickedly awesome dirty in bed. 

What I love about the way these stories are told is that the narrator, this time Kate, talks to the reader as if we're having a conversation. And that makes me really feel like I'm part of the story so I feel every emotion (good and bad) tenfold. The humor is great, the misunderstandings are tragic, the heartbreak is epic, and the conclusion is perfect. 

I reread the playground scene several times because as big of an asshat as Drew can be, Drew in love is a force to be reckoned with. He's willing to sacrifice just about anything to have Kate...and that's just downright dreamy.

Thanks for keeping me up all night with a "just one more chapter" book, Emma. I LOVED it!


SUM IT UP:

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Book Review – Tangled by Emma Chase

Title: Tangled
Author: Emma Chase
Series: The Tangled Series
Published: 2013


SYNOPSIS:

When rich, handsome, and arrogant meets beautiful, brilliant, and ambitious, things are bound to get tangled.

Drew Evans is a winner. Handsome and arrogant, he makes multimillion dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. He has loyal friends and an indulgent family. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed? 

He’ll tell you he has the flu.

But we all know that’s not really true.

Katherine Brooks is brilliant, beautiful and ambitious. She refuses to let anything - or anyone - derail her path to success. When Kate is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating. 

Then, just when Drew is on the cusp of having everything he wants, his overblown confidence threatens to ruin it all. Will he be able untangle his feelings of lust and tenderness, frustration and fulfillment? Will he rise to the most important challenge of his life?

Can Drew Evans win at love? 

Tangled is not your mother’s romance novel. It is an outrageous, passionate, witty narrative about a man who knows a lot about women…just not as much as he thinks he knows. As he tells his story, Drew learns the one thing he never wanted in life, is the only thing he can’t live without.

MY REVIEW:

Un-freaking-believable. 

This book was so fantastic — funny, raunchy, and heartwarming. It's told from Drew's perspective and the voice of the entire book is so good it just reels you in. The story is told as if Drew is confiding in a friend and he holds nothing back. He tells it all....the good, bad, and the ugly. And there is plenty of all of that with Drew. 

There are so many golden nuggets of hilarity throughout the entire book, I can't even begin to name them all. I just know that I'll have certain things added to my vocabulary now, like "Going Ralphie" on someone :) 

This book is short, but it delivers big. Read it! You'll love it...and Drew.

SUM IT UP:

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Book Review – Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

Title: Maybe Someday
Author: Colleen Hoover
Released: March 18, 2014

SYNOPSIS:

At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.

Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…


MY REVIEW:

This book was so perfect in every way. The summary on the back of the book? Can't even prepare you for the emotional annihilation this story puts you through. The writing was achingly gorgeous, the characters were complex and flawed and brilliant, and the story was unlike anything I've ever read. Really. The connection between Ridge and Sydney was more than you could ever ask for from characters. I could feel every one of their emotions as if it was my own. 

On one hand, I'm glad this book is over because my heart was so torn apart during the story I didn't think there was ever a way CoHo could make it right again. But at the same time, I loved having my heart destroyed by Ridge and Sydney's love and I was sad to get to the last page. 

And that last page? Could there be a more perfect sentence to end a book? No. Because Colleen Hoover is the master. Please continue to rip my heart to shreds, CoHo. I beg you.

Note: Another amazing aspect of this book is that it includes a free soundtrack specifically written and recorded for this book by Griffin Peterson. It is awesome. I have several tracks downloaded onto my ipod that play in my regular playlist. My personal favorites? Maybe Someday and I'm in Trouble.


SUM IT UP:

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Indie Book Review - Peacemaker by Eva Gerald

Title: Peacemaker
Author: Eva Gerald
Series: Peacemaker Series
Released: January 11, 2014

SYNOPSIS:

Maya Voland doesn't want to spend her senior year in the cold, isolated town of Shine, Vermont. Reeling from the death of her father and the discovery that her life is a carefully constructed set of lies, Maya wants to escape to a place where she can be invisible.

The residents of Shine can’t let Maya leave. She’s too important to their cause. A manipulator by nature, Maya was born with an extraordinary ability to influence the emotions and actions of others. Shiners will go to great lengths to train her to use those gifts to further their agenda, before other, more sinister forces intercede.

Shea Knightly has been waiting most of his life for Maya to come back home to Shine. He, too, has powers of persuasion and he’s never encountered a girl who can say no to his stunning looks and overwhelming charm. He’ll pull out all the stops to bring Maya into the fold.

Now Maya must decide—is the intense attraction she feels for Shea reciprocated, or is he just feeding her more lies to draw her into the dangerous world of the Shiners? Even if there is something real between them, what price is she willing to pay to make his cause her own?
This is the first book in the Peacemaker Series.


MY REVIEW: 

A great Indie read!

I really enjoyed this story because the concept was new and different. Ms. Gerald created an interesting community of people (Shiners) who not only have strange powers to influence others, but who use those powers to change the world for the better. 

Maya is a headstrong girl who moves to the strange town of Shine after the death of her father. As she gets to know the residents of the town better, secrets are exposed and she soon finds herself immersed in a world of supernatural powers and unbelievable expectations. If she accepts the responsibilities that the Shiners demand of her, she will have very little choice in her future, including who she should love. Maya has to decide if she can trust the Shiners . . . and her heart.

The premise for this story was really clever and well thought out, seamlessly bringing several mysterious storylines together in the end. If you're looking for something completely different in paranormal romance, Peacemaker delivers. I'd say fans of Jessica Shirvington's The Violet Eden Chapters will really enjoy this book. 


SUM IT UP:

"It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people's lives." - Clint Eastwood

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Book Review - The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Title: The Winner's Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's Trilogy
Released: March 4, 2014

SYNOPSIS:

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.


MY REVIEW:

My. Heart. Is. Broken.

The world building was fantastic, the story felt unique and volatile, and the characters were strong and complex. I admired Kestrel for her cunning and street smarts, but loved her for her soft heart and ability to sacrifice for others . . . despite the fact that she was high society. 

Always a fan of the tortured bad boy, I admired Arin for his conviction and loyalty to his people, but loved him for the way he allowed Kestrel into his heart . . .despite the fact she was his enemy. 

The ending was so amazing and so crushing. Kestrel and Arin are one of those timeless sort of love stories, the kind where the lovers are willing to give up their own happinesses for the survival of one another. I'm desperate for the rest of this story.


SUM IT UP:

"The sun loved the moon so much he died every night to let her breathe."

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