Monday, March 10, 2014

Blog Tour: Playing Pretend by Juliana Haygert

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Playing Pretend by Juliana Haygert, organized by YA Bound Blog Tours. Check out my review, enter the giveaway and then check out the other stops on the tour here
----------------------------
Review
The best part about this book is that it's exactly like watching a rom-com, except you're reading so you get so much more. I've always been a sucker for the First Daughter and Catching Liberty kind of movies and this reminded me a lot of that. It's just a fun story about growing up and finding your own voice. Plus, there's not only an awesome romance, but a great friendship as well.

The book just dove right into the developing relationship between Charlotte and Mason, which was a little different. I like that it immediately threw off what I've come to expect from NA novels. It wasn't a meet-cute kind of situation and it wasn't suppressed feelings because of a dark past kind of thing. It was two people who liked each other just going all out. Until Charlotte goes home after Spring Break and back to real life. The way Charlotte and Mason meet up again is a little too coincidental, but for what this book is, it's easy to roll with.

I think Charlotte's relationship with her mother is really well done. It's a smothering and demanding relationship, but it isn't too crazy. I mostly love that it sets up Charlotte to have this kind of awesome secret life, which includes a fantastic friend and then, of course, Mason. It was fun to watch Charlotte's secret life. And Mason is definitely swoon-worthy. For what he goes through to be with Charlotte, he has to be the most patient and understanding dude ever. But that's why it's easy to love him.

Playing Pretend is a quick read, but it has the smart rom-com thing going for it. Basically I love Juliana Haygert, and she's proven herself with urban fantasy in her Everlast Trilogy, with darker contemporary in Breaking the Reins, and now with the sweeter side of contemporary in Playing Pretend. I'd definitely recommend her for anything you're craving in the new adult field. 
----------------------------
About Playing Pretend

Playing Pretend
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Word Count: 65,000Release date: March 2014
Cover: Berto Designs

As the Governor’s daughter, Charlotte McClain is an expert in playing pretend. High society, the men her mother shoves in her direction and a Pre-Law major are all a part of her perfect pretense. But when she pretends to be a nobody during Spring Break, she meets someone who rocks her world.


Mason Rowell knows heartbreak and Spring Break don’t mesh well, so he allows the mysterious Charlotte to seduce him. What should have been a fling, results in something deeper. After Spring Break has long since passed, he moves to Washington to pursue his graduate degree, but what he never expected to find living among the rich and pompous, was the girl who gave him the strength to change and the desire to start anew.

When the guy Charlotte can’t forget goes from a sensual memory to temptation in the flesh, her facade is put to the test. If she surrenders to his charms, she risks ruining her mother’s perfect career and master plan. Playing pretend is what Charlotte does best, but how long can she pretend she doesn't love the man who made her proud of her true self?

**A light, sexy NA Contemporary Romance**

Book Links: Amazon :: B&N :: Kobo :: iBooks :: Createspace :: Goodreads
----------------------------
About the Author
New Adult author and contributor at NA Alley blog.
While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Author Links: 
Website :: Blog :: Twitter :: Facebook :: Goodreads :: Pinterest
----------------------------
Giveaway 
 RULES AND RESTRICTIONS: 
Contest is void where prohibited. Entrants must be 13 or else have parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond  or another winner’s name will be selected. Winning entries will be verified for authenticity.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Organized by:

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Release Day Launch: Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine

I'm extremely excited to participate in spreading the word about Chelsea Fine's BEST KIND OF BROKEN! BEST KIND OF BROKEN is a New Adult contemporary romance and is the first book in the Finding Fate Series. It's available TODAY so after reading these hot teasers and entering the giveaway be sure to go out and grab your copy!!
Best Kind of Broken - Cover
------------------------------------
About the Book

SOMETIMES MOVING ON MEANS MOVING IN 

Pixie Marshall wishes every day she could turn back time and fix the past. But she can't. And the damage is done. She's hoping that a summer of free room and board working with her aunt at the Willow Inn will help her forget. Except there's a problem: the resident handyman is none other than Levi Andrews. The handsome quarterback was once her friend-and maybe more--until everything changed in a life-shattering instant. She was hoping to avoid him, possibly forever. Now he's right down the hall and stirring up feelings Pixie thought she'd long buried . . . 

Levi can't believe he's living with the one person who holds all his painful memories. More than anything he wants to make things right, but a simple "sorry" won't suffice--not when the tragedy that scarred them was his fault. Levi knows Pixie's better off without him, but every part of him screams to touch her, protect her, wrap her in his arms, and kiss away the pain. Yet even though she's so close, Pixie's heart seems more unreachable than ever. Seeing those stunning green eyes again has made one thing perfectly clear--he can't live without her.  

"By turns humorous and heartbreaking, Best Kind Of Broken has become one of my favorites!" --- CORA CARMACK, New York Times bestselling author of Losing It.  
"You'll fall for Pixie and Levi, just like I did!" --- JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT (J. Lynn), #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait For You 
"Tangled with friendship, history and heartbreak--not to mention a huge dose of humor--Chelsea Fine's New Adult novel is not to be missed! Beyond an incredibly HOT read, Pixie and Levi's longing for each other will have you rooting for them till the very end." --- JAY CROWNOVER, New York Times bestselling author of Rule 
"This book destroyed me. Tore me into little tiny pieces. But somehow with lots of laughs and some very steamy times, Chelsea put me back together again! Chelsea Fine's style is witty, visceral and fresh. All I wanted to do was crawl inside this book and live with the characters. And now all I want is MORE." --- CHELSEA M. CAMERON, New York Times bestselling author of My Favorite Mistake 
"Sandwiched between laugh out loud moments and some serious heat, Best Kind of Broken is an unforgettable story of loss and forgiveness that will leave your heart aching." --- LISA DESROCHERS, USA Today bestselling author of A Little Too Far 
  Book Links: Amazon :: Barnes and Noble :: Goodreads  
------------------------------------
Excerpt 
Levi is so distracting. His arms are all raised, and his shoulders are all broad, and he’s fixing crap, and it’s just…it’s just…annoying.
With a huff and a puff and some choice words in my head, I grab my sliced bell peppers and force my feet to the stove. I throw the vegetables into a frying pan, grab a wooden spoon, and ignore Levi’s close proximity.
My body hums.
I ignore that too.
I steal a glance in his direction and watch as the corded muscles in his forearm flex as he unscrews something on the fire alarm box. Why does he have so many muscles in his forearm? That can’t be healthy.
I drop my eyes to the frying pan and focus on bell peppers, because bell peppers are interesting and they don’t have backs the size of Alaska or copious amounts of forearm muscles.
The forearm muscles that I’m not thinking about lightly brush my shoulder and the humming inside my body knots together and zips around like a bumblebee on crack.
I casually turn down the heat on the stove, like that’s the reason I’m suddenly a human vibrator, and go back to stirring. Levi goes back to screwing.
Bell peppers.
I’m thinking about bell peppers.
He brushes against me again, except this time his forearm grazes my breast and my body immediately goes wild like I’m some love-starved teenager and the humming dives low in my belly and the stove gets hotter and my breaths get shallow and suddenly bell peppers are the sexiest vegetable on earth.
From the corner of my eye, I catch his Adam’s apple bobbing with a nervous swallow, which can only mean one thing. The boob brush was an accident.
Well crap.
If he had been trying to cop a feel with his Hulkish forearm, I could have responded with some kind of snarky “you’re a pervert” comment. But it wasn’t on purpose and somehow that makes it sexier and now the cracked-out bumblebee is buzzing in my nether regions and my hands are starting to tingle and why the HELL is this stove so hot?
I turn the burner down another notch and take a slow, deep breath. I have a boyfriend. A great boyfriend. So this sexual frustration I feel around Levi is nothing to get my bee-loving panties in a bunch about. I just need to calm down.
Levi lowers his arm for a moment, his eyes still on the alarm, and stretches his neck.
Ah, the neck stretch. The universal sign of stress. Well at least I’m not alone in my frustration. My hot, distracting, pants-are-so-inconvenient frustration.
Wait, what?
Who said anything about pants? I am NOT thinking about pants—or lack thereof. Damn you, bell peppers!
I toss the wooden spoon to the side and move back to the counter where the threat of being turned on by a handyman or, you know, a sautéed vegetable is much less severe.
I bite back a groan. What was I thinking, living under the same roof as Levi? There’s no way I’ll survive the summer.
Hell, I can barely survive breakfast.

Best Kind Of Broken Teaser 1
------------------------------------
About Chelsea Fine
Author Photo
  Chelsea lives in Phoenix, Arizona where she spends most of her time writing stories, painting murals, and avoiding housework at all costs. She’s ridiculously bad at doing dishes and claims to be allergic to laundry. Her obsessions include: superheroes, coffee, sleeping-in, and crazy socks. She lives with her husband and two children, who graciously tolerate her inability to resist teenage drama on TV and her complete lack of skill in the kitchen. 
Find Chelsea Online: Website :: Facebook :: Twitter :: YouTube :: Instagram :: Goodreads 
------------------------------------
Giveaway

Monday, March 3, 2014

The Fine Line - Alicia Kobishop

Synopsis: High school senior Liv Evans has one rule: No attachments. She’s lost enough in her life and has vowed to do whatever it takes to make sure she never again feels the emptiness of losing someone she loves. Boys are a fun distraction, but a serious relationship is something she’d rather live without. Her determination for a future free of pain and heartbreak is put to the test when she meets–and quickly forms an unexpected bond–with Logan Tanner.

Logan has always been a free spirit, but ever since a life-changing event took place, which left him doubting the integrity of those who are closest to him, he’s taken that term to a whole new dangerous level. Learning the hard way that life is too short for worries or work–and that women can’t be trusted–Logan has exchanged steady work for street racing. When Liv walks into his world, everything he thought he knew about life and women is challenged.

In The Fine Line, Liv and Logan will discover if it’s possible for true love to have a future, or if history is destined to repeat itself.


For some reason, the beacon of street racing just called out to me from this book. I didn't know this was a thing I liked to read about until Katie McGarry came along, but apparently street racing is an awesome angle. It was the racing that brought me in, but it was the crazy relationship that made me stay.

I've decided that the romances I love are weirdly the ones where I get so frustrated that I feel the need to step into the book and talk some sense into the characters. Which is exactly what Liv and Logan did to me. Liv was just so stubbornly set in her ways that I just wanted to shake her. The point where she kind of starts fighting herself, I just got so wrapped up in Logan's efforts to win her over and get her to go with her feelings. The thing is, I'm very much with Liv - in terms of pessimism about love - but there's a point where you have to give in when it comes along and she took a lot longer to figure that out than most do. So I found myself wrapped up in Logan's pursuit and I just couldn't wait to see what it took for them to finally find their way to one another.

I really wish the street racing had been a larger part of the story. It makes an appearance at the beginning, very briefly in the middle and then the end. It kind of gets dropped while the focus goes to developing Liv and Logan's relationship and then it's picked back up once their personal drama stops. I just wanted more. There's a lot that goes down near the end that would have so much more impact if it had been developed throughout the entire book.

I really enjoyed this new adult. It was a quick read and it was definitely easy to get wrapped up in. Logan was a hero worth loving, even if Liv drove me crazy. If you're into character driven books that get you all tangled in their emotions, this is a great one for you.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Blog Tour: Playing Pretend by Juliana Haygert

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Playing Pretend by Juliana Haygert, organized by YA Bound Blog Tours. Check out my review, enter the giveaway and then check out the other stops on the tour here
----------------------------
Review
The best part about this book is that it's exactly like watching a rom-com, except you're reading so you get so much more. I've always been a sucker for the First Daughter and Catching Liberty kind of movies and this reminded me a lot of that. It's just a fun story about growing up and finding your own voice. Plus, there's not only an awesome romance, but a great friendship as well.

The book just dove right into the developing relationship between Charlotte and Mason, which was a little different. I like that it immediately threw off what I've come to expect from NA novels. It wasn't a meet-cute kind of situation and it wasn't suppressed feelings because of a dark past kind of thing. It was two people who liked each other just going all out. Until Charlotte goes home after Spring Break and back to real life. The way Charlotte and Mason meet up again is a little too coincidental, but for what this book is, it's easy to roll with.

I think Charlotte's relationship with her mother is really well done. It's a smothering and demanding relationship, but it isn't too crazy. I mostly love that it sets up Charlotte to have this kind of awesome secret life, which includes a fantastic friend and then, of course, Mason. It was fun to watch Charlotte's secret life. And Mason is definitely swoon-worthy. For what he goes through to be with Charlotte, he has to be the most patient and understanding dude ever. But that's why it's easy to love him.

Playing Pretend is a quick read, but it has the smart rom-com thing going for it. Basically I love Juliana Haygert, and she's proven herself with urban fantasy in her Everlast Trilogy, with darker contemporary in Breaking the Reins, and now with the sweeter side of contemporary in Playing Pretend. I'd definitely recommend her for anything you're craving in the new adult field. 
----------------------------
About Playing Pretend

Playing Pretend
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Word Count: 65,000Release date: March 2014
Cover: Berto Designs

As the Governor’s daughter, Charlotte McClain is an expert in playing pretend. High society, the men her mother shoves in her direction and a Pre-Law major are all a part of her perfect pretense. But when she pretends to be a nobody during Spring Break, she meets someone who rocks her world.


Mason Rowell knows heartbreak and Spring Break don’t mesh well, so he allows the mysterious Charlotte to seduce him. What should have been a fling, results in something deeper. After Spring Break has long since passed, he moves to Washington to pursue his graduate degree, but what he never expected to find living among the rich and pompous, was the girl who gave him the strength to change and the desire to start anew.

When the guy Charlotte can’t forget goes from a sensual memory to temptation in the flesh, her facade is put to the test. If she surrenders to his charms, she risks ruining her mother’s perfect career and master plan. Playing pretend is what Charlotte does best, but how long can she pretend she doesn't love the man who made her proud of her true self?

**A light, sexy NA Contemporary Romance**

Book Links: Amazon :: B&N :: Kobo :: iBooks :: Createspace :: Goodreads
----------------------------
About the Author
New Adult author and contributor at NA Alley blog.
While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Author Links: 
Website :: Blog :: Twitter :: Facebook :: Goodreads :: Pinterest
----------------------------
Giveaway 
 RULES AND RESTRICTIONS: 
Contest is void where prohibited. Entrants must be 13 or else have parent or guardian’s permission to enter. Winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond  or another winner’s name will be selected. Winning entries will be verified for authenticity.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Organized by:

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Release Day Launch: Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine

I'm extremely excited to participate in spreading the word about Chelsea Fine's BEST KIND OF BROKEN! BEST KIND OF BROKEN is a New Adult contemporary romance and is the first book in the Finding Fate Series. It's available TODAY so after reading these hot teasers and entering the giveaway be sure to go out and grab your copy!!
Best Kind of Broken - Cover
------------------------------------
About the Book

SOMETIMES MOVING ON MEANS MOVING IN 

Pixie Marshall wishes every day she could turn back time and fix the past. But she can't. And the damage is done. She's hoping that a summer of free room and board working with her aunt at the Willow Inn will help her forget. Except there's a problem: the resident handyman is none other than Levi Andrews. The handsome quarterback was once her friend-and maybe more--until everything changed in a life-shattering instant. She was hoping to avoid him, possibly forever. Now he's right down the hall and stirring up feelings Pixie thought she'd long buried . . . 

Levi can't believe he's living with the one person who holds all his painful memories. More than anything he wants to make things right, but a simple "sorry" won't suffice--not when the tragedy that scarred them was his fault. Levi knows Pixie's better off without him, but every part of him screams to touch her, protect her, wrap her in his arms, and kiss away the pain. Yet even though she's so close, Pixie's heart seems more unreachable than ever. Seeing those stunning green eyes again has made one thing perfectly clear--he can't live without her.  

"By turns humorous and heartbreaking, Best Kind Of Broken has become one of my favorites!" --- CORA CARMACK, New York Times bestselling author of Losing It.  
"You'll fall for Pixie and Levi, just like I did!" --- JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT (J. Lynn), #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wait For You 
"Tangled with friendship, history and heartbreak--not to mention a huge dose of humor--Chelsea Fine's New Adult novel is not to be missed! Beyond an incredibly HOT read, Pixie and Levi's longing for each other will have you rooting for them till the very end." --- JAY CROWNOVER, New York Times bestselling author of Rule 
"This book destroyed me. Tore me into little tiny pieces. But somehow with lots of laughs and some very steamy times, Chelsea put me back together again! Chelsea Fine's style is witty, visceral and fresh. All I wanted to do was crawl inside this book and live with the characters. And now all I want is MORE." --- CHELSEA M. CAMERON, New York Times bestselling author of My Favorite Mistake 
"Sandwiched between laugh out loud moments and some serious heat, Best Kind of Broken is an unforgettable story of loss and forgiveness that will leave your heart aching." --- LISA DESROCHERS, USA Today bestselling author of A Little Too Far 
  Book Links: Amazon :: Barnes and Noble :: Goodreads  
------------------------------------
Excerpt 
Levi is so distracting. His arms are all raised, and his shoulders are all broad, and he’s fixing crap, and it’s just…it’s just…annoying.
With a huff and a puff and some choice words in my head, I grab my sliced bell peppers and force my feet to the stove. I throw the vegetables into a frying pan, grab a wooden spoon, and ignore Levi’s close proximity.
My body hums.
I ignore that too.
I steal a glance in his direction and watch as the corded muscles in his forearm flex as he unscrews something on the fire alarm box. Why does he have so many muscles in his forearm? That can’t be healthy.
I drop my eyes to the frying pan and focus on bell peppers, because bell peppers are interesting and they don’t have backs the size of Alaska or copious amounts of forearm muscles.
The forearm muscles that I’m not thinking about lightly brush my shoulder and the humming inside my body knots together and zips around like a bumblebee on crack.
I casually turn down the heat on the stove, like that’s the reason I’m suddenly a human vibrator, and go back to stirring. Levi goes back to screwing.
Bell peppers.
I’m thinking about bell peppers.
He brushes against me again, except this time his forearm grazes my breast and my body immediately goes wild like I’m some love-starved teenager and the humming dives low in my belly and the stove gets hotter and my breaths get shallow and suddenly bell peppers are the sexiest vegetable on earth.
From the corner of my eye, I catch his Adam’s apple bobbing with a nervous swallow, which can only mean one thing. The boob brush was an accident.
Well crap.
If he had been trying to cop a feel with his Hulkish forearm, I could have responded with some kind of snarky “you’re a pervert” comment. But it wasn’t on purpose and somehow that makes it sexier and now the cracked-out bumblebee is buzzing in my nether regions and my hands are starting to tingle and why the HELL is this stove so hot?
I turn the burner down another notch and take a slow, deep breath. I have a boyfriend. A great boyfriend. So this sexual frustration I feel around Levi is nothing to get my bee-loving panties in a bunch about. I just need to calm down.
Levi lowers his arm for a moment, his eyes still on the alarm, and stretches his neck.
Ah, the neck stretch. The universal sign of stress. Well at least I’m not alone in my frustration. My hot, distracting, pants-are-so-inconvenient frustration.
Wait, what?
Who said anything about pants? I am NOT thinking about pants—or lack thereof. Damn you, bell peppers!
I toss the wooden spoon to the side and move back to the counter where the threat of being turned on by a handyman or, you know, a sautéed vegetable is much less severe.
I bite back a groan. What was I thinking, living under the same roof as Levi? There’s no way I’ll survive the summer.
Hell, I can barely survive breakfast.

Best Kind Of Broken Teaser 1
------------------------------------
About Chelsea Fine
Author Photo
  Chelsea lives in Phoenix, Arizona where she spends most of her time writing stories, painting murals, and avoiding housework at all costs. She’s ridiculously bad at doing dishes and claims to be allergic to laundry. Her obsessions include: superheroes, coffee, sleeping-in, and crazy socks. She lives with her husband and two children, who graciously tolerate her inability to resist teenage drama on TV and her complete lack of skill in the kitchen. 
Find Chelsea Online: Website :: Facebook :: Twitter :: YouTube :: Instagram :: Goodreads 
------------------------------------
Giveaway

Monday, March 3, 2014

The Fine Line - Alicia Kobishop

Synopsis: High school senior Liv Evans has one rule: No attachments. She’s lost enough in her life and has vowed to do whatever it takes to make sure she never again feels the emptiness of losing someone she loves. Boys are a fun distraction, but a serious relationship is something she’d rather live without. Her determination for a future free of pain and heartbreak is put to the test when she meets–and quickly forms an unexpected bond–with Logan Tanner.

Logan has always been a free spirit, but ever since a life-changing event took place, which left him doubting the integrity of those who are closest to him, he’s taken that term to a whole new dangerous level. Learning the hard way that life is too short for worries or work–and that women can’t be trusted–Logan has exchanged steady work for street racing. When Liv walks into his world, everything he thought he knew about life and women is challenged.

In The Fine Line, Liv and Logan will discover if it’s possible for true love to have a future, or if history is destined to repeat itself.


For some reason, the beacon of street racing just called out to me from this book. I didn't know this was a thing I liked to read about until Katie McGarry came along, but apparently street racing is an awesome angle. It was the racing that brought me in, but it was the crazy relationship that made me stay.

I've decided that the romances I love are weirdly the ones where I get so frustrated that I feel the need to step into the book and talk some sense into the characters. Which is exactly what Liv and Logan did to me. Liv was just so stubbornly set in her ways that I just wanted to shake her. The point where she kind of starts fighting herself, I just got so wrapped up in Logan's efforts to win her over and get her to go with her feelings. The thing is, I'm very much with Liv - in terms of pessimism about love - but there's a point where you have to give in when it comes along and she took a lot longer to figure that out than most do. So I found myself wrapped up in Logan's pursuit and I just couldn't wait to see what it took for them to finally find their way to one another.

I really wish the street racing had been a larger part of the story. It makes an appearance at the beginning, very briefly in the middle and then the end. It kind of gets dropped while the focus goes to developing Liv and Logan's relationship and then it's picked back up once their personal drama stops. I just wanted more. There's a lot that goes down near the end that would have so much more impact if it had been developed throughout the entire book.

I really enjoyed this new adult. It was a quick read and it was definitely easy to get wrapped up in. Logan was a hero worth loving, even if Liv drove me crazy. If you're into character driven books that get you all tangled in their emotions, this is a great one for you.