Blog Tour, Review, & Giveaway: All My Life (First Things Book 1) by Rucy Ban

All My Life by Rucy Ban 

(First Things #1) 

Publication date: May 2nd 2013 

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Seventeen-year-old Kari meets Neil Mars. “Neil as in Armstrong and Mars…as in Bruno.” A boy who beats every vampire, werewolf, highlander fantasy Kari has ever had. But she knows she can’t get close to him. Not ever. Because that would mean telling him everything. Coming clean. And Kari can’t bear the idea of changing the way Neil looks at her. Like she’s the only girl in the world. His reverence is something too precious to lose. Perhaps even at the cost of losing him.

But Kari doesn’t know why Neil calls her his ‘Angel’ and when she finds out, she realizes what love is all about. Boundless joy, unending longing and a fuckload of heartache.

Rucy Ban was born in 1978 and still continues to thrive. Ever since she first met Francine (the protagonist of her favorite novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), Rucy fell in love with the written word. Rucy has a B-school degree in Marketing which she now puts to good use teaching lovable rowdy rogues and negotiating with her equally belligerent adolescent. In her previous avatar, she handled corporate communications for companies. At present, Rucy lives in Sao Paulo, travels often, speaks decent, if not quite fluent, Portuguese and really hates talking about herself in third person.

Author Links:

Website: http://jiltedgenius.wordpress.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7054725.Rucy_Ban

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rucy.ban

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucyban

My Thoughts on All My Life

  

All My Life is by no means a perfect book. However, there was something about it that drew me in and I couldn't stop reading. So....I must have liked it, right? 

The Characters- Rucy Ban did an excellent job making characters that I enjoyed. Yes Kari said Jheezus entirely too often and occasionally she comes off a tad immature but let's remember she's only 17. 

Neil is really sweet, hot, and truly cares about Kari. I loved how he repeatedly proves his feelings with his actions. Yeah there is insta love and that is really getting overused but here at least there was a reason that the story needed them to fall quickly. Plus it's a romance story so you know ahead of time that there will be characters falling in love. I absolutely loved Nalini, Agnas, Josiah, Tatiana and Danny. They were amazing and so funny. I think they are a huge part of what I really liked about this book. 

The Story- The story is a bit tricky for me. I really liked certain aspects of it and it had a ton of potential, but it sort of fell short in some ways. There were some problems that I just couldn't overlook. Kari's age for one. I get why she had to be young for one part of the story to work but then her age really messed up the romance for me. I can't imagine she would have been able to have the job that she has at that age either. I did enjoy how different All My Life is  from many other new adult stories though. I didn't feel like I was reading the same old, tired story.

I loved how often I laughed out loud while reading All My Life and honestly I think this is a book that I will remember later.While I have mentioned things that didn't work, I as a reader could see why some of the plot happened the way it did so that some of the twists that the author wanted would work out. I think as writer though, your job is to figure out how to make it all work out smoothly and edit, edit, edit. Most likely I will end up reading book two because I really think Ban has potential and I truly look forward to seeing her grow as an author. Plus, like I said there was something about it.

All My Life Teaser

"Why do you look so happy?" Mom's voice is slow and suspicious.

"I looove my job," I announce dreamily. 

There is silence for a few seconds and then she says "No one smiles like that because of job satisfaction, sweetie." Then she flops down right next to me. "You do know that getting involved with one's boss is usually frowned upon in professional circles?" she asks.

"It's not my boss. It's her son. Huge difference."

"Certainly is. In the first case, you'd be gay. In the second, you're just loosening your morals a bit."

"M-o-m!"

After a pause she gives me another one of her poignant one-liners. "The thing about falling for the hot, bad guy is...it's a hell of a ride going up but an incredible low coming down."

"Neil's not a bad guy, Mom. He just looks like one. It's like he has the mystery but....not the deceit."

"Looks like Nine Inch Nails but sings like Michael Bolton?"

"Who's Michael Bolton?"

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All reviews of the books I read whether bought, borrowed, or given are reviewed by me in all honesty. I don't intend to hurt anyone's feelings but my opinion is what it is, and I will not be swayed just because I have been given a book to review. 

Review: Tragic by J.A. Huss

Tragic 

Author: J.A. Huss

Age Group: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Published: May 20, 2013

Summary From Goodreads:

Rook Walsh is TRAGIC

Because life so far – just sucks. Some girls get parents. Rook got the foster care system. Some girls get Prince Charming. Rook got an abusive frog. Some girls get lucky…

Rook got a second chance.

And she took it. Because when fate throws you a bone – you grab it with both hands and run.

Antoine Chaput knows the minute he spies Rook in his photography studio that she’s got The Look. The dark and desperate look he must have to land the exclusive TRAGIC media contract.

Rook is paired up with top model, Ronin, and he’s everything her abusive ex-boyfriend wasn’t. Patient, gentle, happy, attentive, and sexy! He knows exactly what to do to make Rook blush for Antoine’s camera. 

Rook’s luck changes in an instant and suddenly she’s the darling of the modeling world. It’s a dream job to go with a dream guy and all she has to do is look pretty and follow directions. But there’s always a price to pay – and Rook is about to get the bill.

New Adult Contemporary Romance *Mature Content* Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations and language usage

My Thoughts

Tragic kept showing up on blogs that I read as a pretty great book. That plus the fact that I am really smitten with the cover had me heading over to amazon to snag the sample. I had a little time so I started in on the sample (honestly this was the first time that I had used the sample feature) once I had finished the sample I was completely and totally hooked and had to go back and hit the purchase button. There was no way I could have stopped reading this book.

I've been reading mostly New Adult books all year (I can't get enough!) and I've noticed that they mostly follow the same formula. This is ok because obviously I like this formula. However, sometimes one book flows into the next and they don't always stand out from the book before or after. Tragic has that extra something that made it really stand out for me. This is one book that won't be fading into the next one. 

Rook's character is so amazing. Here is this girl...she comes off at first as hopeless and vulnerable. Then right away she bucks up and puts up this amazing hard core front. She really is vulnerable but definitely not hopeless. This girl is a super hero. Truly!

Ronin is a definitely everything you could want in a guy. He's hot (really hot), and he wants this life. This life that most girls dream of. He wants to fall in love and take care of his wife and send his kids to private school and have that great, wonderful, boring family life that sounds just so....great. (Trust me I know, and it really is amazing!) 

Of course it's not that easy though. Rook and Ronin aren't able to just fall in love and be together. They each have their own tortured pasts to deal with. I just hope they don't hurt each other too much to be able to end up together. 

This book has some serious heat. I loved Rook and Ronin's photo shoots they were seriously scorching! 

I can't wait to read Manic, the continuation of Rook and Ronin's story. Thanks to all of my blogger friends that recommended Tragic. 

Giving You Forever by Ashley Wilcox

Giving You Forever
Author: Ashley Wilcox
Genre: Adult Erotic Romance
Release Date: June 19, 2013
Summary From Goodreads

From the moment Nolan Pratt walked into Alexa Arnold’s life everything was forever changed. After a year of dating, the ring was on her finger, the house was purchased, and life was heading down Pleasantville Lane. Everything was perfect.

Or so they thought.

With help from his parent’s inheritance, Nolan takes on a new business adventure, utilizing all his free time. What was once their life- carefree with minimal responsibilities, is no more. When Alexa starts to feel the pressure from school, wedding planning, and lack of help from Nolan, exhaustion kicks in and feelings get hurt, testing the strength of their relationship. But, if there is one thing that Nolan will never compromise, it’s Alexa’s happiness. There’s nothing Nolan Pratt won’t do to make sure Alexa is well taken care of, loved, and happy.

When Nolan’s past resurfaces- a past that Alexa didn’t know existed- will it all be too much? Will Nolan’s devotion to Alexa’s happiness cost him their relationship and lose him the only thing that has ever mattered in his life? Or will Nolan discover that his past doesn’t determine his future and he is worth the happiness he doesn’t think he deserves?

My Thoughts

This review is proving to be a really difficult one for me to write. There was a lot I liked about this novel but there was also a lot I didn't like. So I think I will write this review a little differently. 

What I Liked About Giving You Forever

• Nolan adores Alexa and isn't afraid to show her how strongly he feels about her.
• He also doesn't mind others knowing how much he cares for Alexa. Every girl should have a Nolan in their life. 
• Alexa's new friend Jamie was a great side character and I would love to read more about him.
• The second half of Giving You Forever, I felt like the meat of the story was really in the second half. 

What I Didn't Like So Much

• Alexa can be a bit off putting sometimes. I get that she loves Nolan because she says she does not because she shows she does the way Nolan does.  She often comes off as selfish.
• The first half of the book was a bit slow for me. It was very everyday life with sex thrown in a lot. 
• As an erotic novel I was a little disappointed in this book. There was plenty of sex it just felt like the same sex scene over and over again. 
• I was so disappointed in Nolan at the end of the story. His actions seemed very out of character and it felt like unnecessary angst. 
• As much as I appreciate Nolan and Alexa's love for each other their constant lovey doveyness can be a little much. A tad saccharine even.

I'm glad I was able to read Giving You Forever and that I could experience Nolan and Alexa's happily ever after even if it wasn't my favorite Ashley Wilcox novel. 

*this book was given to me in exchange for an honest review

Blog Tour, Giveaway, & Review: This Time Around by Ellie Grace

Title: This Time Around

Author: Ellie Grace

Release date: July 15, 2013

Age Group: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary romance

Tour organized by: AToMR Tours

Nora Montgomery left home and heartbreak behind in South Carolina when she moved to New York City after her high school graduation. Now, four years later, she returns home and is forced to confront the past she left behind and the reckless boy who broke her heart.  It’s not long before the pieces of her past begin to blur with the present and she realizes that the feelings she had for her first love never really went away. As old dreams resurface and new truths come to light, she begins to question the future she's always planned on.

Jake Harris has spent four years regretting the night he let her get away. When she finally reappears in his life, he is determined to win her back and prove how much he’s changed. She might never forgive him for that night, but if he tells her the truth about what really happened it will shatter the world she thought she knew.  If he doesn’t, he might not get a second chance. He’s already lost her once and he won’t lose her again.

They come from two different worlds that are threatening to tear them apart…can they make it this time around?

  

About The Author

Ellie Grace is an avid reader, chocolate lover and caffeine addict. When a story popped into her head that she couldn’t seem to shake, she decided to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a writer. When she’s not writing, she’s usually curled up with a book by one of her many, many favorite authors.

Author Social Media Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/elliegracebooks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliegracebooks

Blog/Website: http://elliegracebooks.blogspot.com  

My Thoughts

This Time Around is a sweet, romantic story about high school sweethearts going their separate ways and then finding their way back. For a new adult romance This Time Around is fairly tame in the bedroom and almost angst free.

After four years of college Nora and Jake find themselves thrown together again for their best friends wedding. It's obvious that both Nora and Jake still have feelings for each other and they quickly realize that they want nothing more than to be together again.

What I Liked About This Time Around

• I wasn't depressed at the end of this book.
• Jake's wedding toast was amazing and brought tears to my eyes!
• Nora grows and learns to live for what she wants not what her parents want.
• Nora respects her parents so much even when they aren't the best parents. I loved that even though she was hurt by them she knew they loved her and she didn't want to jeopardize their relationship.

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To see other stops on the tour for reviews, guest posts, and excerpt click here or the tour button below.

Blog Tour, Review, and Giveaway: An Endless Summer by C.J. Duggan

An Endless Summer (Summer #2)

by C.J. Duggan

Release Date: 07/17/13

Summary from Goodreads:

Sean looked out over the lake, squinting against the sunlight. He turned to me, his expression sobering as his eyes flicked over my face in a silent study.

“Come on Amy, I saved you once, I’ll save you again.”
I met his stare unflinchingly. “I don’t need saving.”

A wicked grin formed slowly. “Don’t you?”

After a rebellious summer night that almost claimed her life, Amy Henderson – the Onslow publican’s only daughter – is sent away to suffer a fate far worse than any other punishment:

Boarding School.

Three years on, a now nineteen-year-old Amy returns to Onslow for the summer. What once was a cauldron of activity with live bands, hot meals and cold beers, the Onslow Hotel now lies dark, deserted and depressing. All fond childhood memories of loitering on the hotel stairs and eavesdropping on customers’ colourful conversations are in the distant past.

How had her dad let it come to this?

With the new threat of putting the Onslow up for sale, Amy reluctantly turns to a local tradesman for help: Sean Murphy, the very same Onslow boy who saved her life all those years ago. With his help and that of some old friends, the task is clear: spend the summer building the hotel back up to its former glory or lose it for good.

In an endless summer, Amy soon realises that sometimes in order to save your future, you have to face your past, even if it’s in the form of a smug, gorgeous Onslow boy.

The Boys of Summer is on sale this week only for $.99!  Get your copy now!

About The Author

C.J Duggan is an Australian author who lives with her husband in a rural border town of New South Wales, Australia.
The Boys of Summer is Book One in her Mature Young Adult Romance Series.

Website│Twitter│Goodreads│Facebook

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My Review

I've so enjoyed another summer in Onslow. Hanging with The Onslow Boys again at the pub on the lake is just what my summer needed.  C.J. Duggan has written another light, fun, sexually charged, romantic summer read. 

This time around little Amy Henderson is all grown up. After spending the last three years away from Onslow, Amy decides to head back to escape her parents "honeymoon" phase. She is horrified by the state of her childhood home and becomes determined to bring it back to it's former glory. Luckily for her Sean Murphy has also returned to Onslow and he is just as determined to help Amy succeed. 

Things I loved About An Endless Summer:

• The sexual tension between Amy and Sean is fabulous, and I found myself many times thinking "Just kiss already!!!!" I'll let you find out for yourself how that goes. 
• So many of the wonderful characters from The Boys From Summer have returned.
• Adam (I really love him)
• The Onslow Hotel (I wish I had had a place like that to hang out in way back when I was a teen.

If you are looking for a happy, toe curling, summer read look no further!

Welcome to my stop on the An Endless Summer blog tour hosted by YA Bound Book Tours.  Click on the banner to see the full blog tour schedule!

Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: Catching Liam by Sophia Bleu

Catching Liam by Sophia Bleu

Publication date:  Summer 2013 

Genre: New Adult Contemporary

Twenty-one year-old Jillian Nichols only has one rule when it comes to boys: catch and release. Boy-catching isn't just a game for Jillian and her friends, it's a lifestyle. After all, boys might be good for a dance or a drink and certainly a little under-cover action of the scandalous variety, but expect much else and you're bound for heart ache.

So when her best friends and fellow boy catchers start dropping like flies junior year, Jillian is determined to keep boys in her bedroom and out of her heart. Until she meets Liam McAvoy, the kind of guy that sticks around to make waffles and who can't—or perhaps won't—take a hint. 

Study abroad student Liam doesn't want to be another notch on Jillian's bedpost. Actually he has much more interesting ideas for Jillian and her bedposts, but his student visa's set expiration date means he can't promise her forever. That doesn't mean he's going to walk away from the challenge of discovering why Jillian is hell-bent at keeping people at a distance. 

Before long, neither is sure who is catching who—or if they're playing for keeps. Jillian knows one thing though: falling in love will not only break the only rule of boy-catching, it could also break her heart.

 

AUTHOR BIO 

Sophia Bleu is a secret identity where I can write about fantasies and falling in love and all the smexiness in between.  In real life, I'm likely catching a plane, chasing kids, or making out with the love of my life—all 6 ft 3 inches of hotness that he is.  Life is pretty good.

Author links:

Website / Facebook / Twitter

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My Review

Ah, the one night stand that just won't go away. It worked for Grey's Anatomy and it definitely works for Catching Liam. Waking up to waffles and a Scottish accent after an incredible one night stand and she wants him to go?!?!?!? Uhm....NO! 

Without a doubt my favorite part of this book is the characters. Even though I often want to smack Jillian in the back of her head I still really liked her character. She is trying really hard to protect herself and she uses sarcasm to do this, luckily I adore sarcasm. Do to a medical condition Jillian is terrified of relationships and tries to hide her condition from everyone except her two best friends. 

Liam is a super sexy Scottish student that is in the States for a year of University. Liam is my absolute favorite character of Catching Liam. He is sweet and has decided after a one night stand with Jullian that she is the girl for him. Slowly he convinces Jullian that they belong together. Liam realizes that Jullian is keeping something from him he just can't figure out what but he is determined to find out what secrets she is keeping from him. 

Catching Liam is an easy, sweet, romantic story, and I will definitely be reading Jullian's best friend Jesse's book this fall. 

 Thanks for stopping by you can join the rest of the tour by clicking on the tour banner below. 

Nearly Broken by Devon Ashley Blog Tour & Giveaway

Title: Nearly Broken

Author: Devon Ashley

Release date: June 4, 2013

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Age Group: New Adult

Event organized by: AToMR Tours

 

We’d both gone missing at one point, but Claire had one thing I didn’t. Someone to notice. So why was I the one still here and she the one still gone?

Nineteen year old Megan Smith has spent the past year working in a small town diner in the middle of nowhere. Life is quiet, simple, safe. Then comes the news that her look-a-like has gone missing. Claire.

Still damaged both physically and mentally, Megan's not looking to be noticed. Wherever she goes from here, it's a road she needs to take alone. But when Nickolas Ellis takes the job as the new nightshift cook, it scares her how easily her defenses crumble down, down, down for him. But there are secrets she can't bear to share with just anyone, unspeakable acts that continue to haunt, and when the similarities of Claire’s abduction couples with the fear of an unwanted visitor in town, the urge to run before it all happens again intensifies, threatening the only happiness Megan's ever found.

New Adult Romantic Suspense / Realistic FictionRecommended for 17+ for mature and disturbing situations, language and sexual content.

About The Author

I’m a mom, wife, a lover and a fighter, coffee addict, wicked knitster, Microbiologist, baker of fine yummy treats, and someone who will fight you to death for that last twinkie bag of M&Ms during the zombie-apocalypse. Seriously, my addiction is that important to me. Oh yeah, and writing is cool too!

Author social media links:

Blog:  http://devonashleywrites.blogspot.com/

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4717601.Devon_Ashley

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Devon-Ashley/101672456583899?ref=br_rs

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My Review

Just finishing Nearly Broken and I'm hoping that this review will be coherent because right now my thoughts are everywhere. This book is seriously intense and heartbreaking. Knowing that so much of this book really happens to children and women all over the world just infuriates me and makes my heart literally ache. 

Nearly Broken while highly disturbing is wonderfully written. Devon Ashley does an amazing job of making you feel. I was instantly drawn into the story because at first you don't know what has happened to Megan. You just know that whatever it was it wasn't good. 

Once Nick enters the story Megan starts to open up a little and he really brings out a more playful side of her. When you finally find out who Nick really is and what has happened to Megan, well that is when your heart starts to break for her. 

I highly recommend Nearly Broken not just because it is a great book but I also think it could be an amazing tool for raising awareness. (being kind of vague, I know but I hate spoilers)