Outback Dirty (Calendar Men #1) by JoAnne Kenrick

The Calendar Men series from DECADENT PUBLISHING promises a new book boyfriend every month in 2014.  That's 12 novellas with HOT heroes written by various authors!

Learn more at http://calendar-men.blogspot.com/p/home.html

 ~ Meet Mr. January! ~

Chris Ruter's plan for Australia Day is to beat the heat by letting the beer flow. His New York ex, Janine, seems determined to drive the heel of her sharp stiletto right through the wall he's built to avoid memories of her--but does she want him in front of her camera or in her bed?

Janine Red is ready to get outback dirty to win back her sexy ex. Following him to his plantation, their bushwalk turns into a trip down memory lane. Can the magic of the outback heal her sprained ankle--and their hearts?

Read Chapter 1 HERE 

 Book Links:

Goodreads | Decadent | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble

JoAnne Kenrick is a multi-published author who writes both contemporaries and paranormals. Her Irish Kisses series earned her the title of a Bookstrand bestselling author, and contemporary romance bestselling author at ARe and Amazon.When JoAnne's not writing, she enjoys creating book adverts and crafting.

She lives in North Carolina with her husband, two kids, and two puddy cats. When they aren't demanding her attention she strums away on the keys of her little laptop, creating worlds and adventures she could only ever dream of. Come across the pond and faraway....with JoAnne Kenrick.

www.JoAnneKenrick.com

Four Stars 

Hello, Mr. January!!!

JoAnne Kenrick kicks off the Calendar Men series Down Under in her steamy novella, Outback Dirty!

While in New York, Chris Ruter met Janine when he volunteered to model for a calendar. Things were going well until she broke his heart. Now Chris is living in the Australian outback. Then Janine turns up out of the blue one day, and things really start to get dirty between the two!

Oh wow! This is my first time reading anything from JoAnne Kenrick, and I'm impressed! Chris is a sensitive guy. It's been about a year since the break-up, and he still can't get his ex out of his mind. Then she's suddenly there, and he's expecting to have his heart broken all over again...poor guy!

I adore second chance stories and quite enjoyed this novella. As I kept reading, I really got into the story. Janine is ambitious, and her history combined with Chris' heartbreak brought a little angst. All the secondary characters were friendly and fun. The outback setting was so beautifully written. Wowza, the love scenes were hot, hot, hot! If you're in the mood for something short and sexy, I don't think you can go wrong with Outback Dirty. I'm looking forward to meeting Mr. February in February Lover by Rebecca Royce!

*A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.*

 

Back to You (Coming Home #3) by Jessica Scott

Title: Back to You

Author: Jessica Scott

Series: Coming Home #3

Release Date: January 7, 2014

Synopsis:

He's in for the fight of his life . . .

Army captain Trent Davila loved his wife, Laura, and their two beautiful children. But when he almost lost his life in combat, something inside him died. He couldn't explain the emptiness he felt or bridge the growing distance between him and his family—so he deployed again. And again. And again . . . until his marriage reached its breaking point. Now, with everything on the line, Trent has one last chance to prove to his wife that he can be the man she needs . . . if she'll have him

. . . to win back his only love.

Laura is blindsided when Trent returns home. Time and again, he chose his men over his family, and she's just beginning to put the pieces of her shattered heart back together. But when Trent faces a court martial on false charges, only Laura can save him. What begins as an act of kindness to protect his career inflames a desire she thought long buried—and a love that won't be denied. But can she trust that this time he's back to stay?

Book Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo 

Author Link: Website

Five Stars 

I knew Back To You was going to be hard to read! The previous books in this series gave us an idea of Laura and Trent's crumbling marriage. While she's at home working and raising two young kids, he kept deploying over and over again, shutting her out more and more each time. It got to the point where Laura reached her breaking point and had to accept she may have lost her husband completely. Then he came home. Trent was being accused of something, so he came to home to deal with that, and during this time he learns to face his own demons and accept responsibility for what he did to his family.

Boy, did this story tear me apart! Jessica Scott wrote a story filled with realistic and raw emotions. She made me feel the anguish, the disappointments, and the helplessness for both Laura and Trent that I really couldn't take a side. Trent basically had to re-wire his body and mind to adjust to being home. He literally didn't know how to be with his family, cute hamsters and all. When this story begins, Laura has waited so long for Trent that she's actually ready to move on. I loved how the broken dishwasher Laura is dealing with at home is symbolic of her broken marriage...all laid out in pieces. I loved that we get to see their good friends again (Shane, Jen, Vic and Nicole) and witness them all supporting each other, injecting wise words and humor throughout.

Back to You is certainly a story of second chances. It's a story of a soldier coming home. It's a journey of a husband and wife slowly nurturing their neglected marriage. Thank you, Jessica Scott, for using your background, experiences, and expertise to give Laura and Trent such a touching and well-deserved story!

 

Release Day Blitz! Sweet Rome (Sweet Home #2) by Tillie Cole

HAPPY RELEASE DAY!!!

  You met Romeo Prince in the Amazon & USA Today bestselling novel, Sweet Home. Now hear the story from his lips: unbarred, uncensored and raw to the bone. It makes me laugh when I hear that folk think Mol and I rushed into it too fast, spouting that we couldn't possibly have felt what we did for each other in such a short space of time. I say, how the hell would they know? We made it, didn't we? She became my whole life, didn't she? And as for my folks not being real, being true? Tell that to me aged ten, eleven, twelve — damn, all my bastard life — when I was never enough, when I was beaten until I bled for being too good at football and not being everything they'd dreamed: the perfectly dutiful son. Tell that to thousands of kids around the world getting wailed on by asshole parents for whatever stupid reason; tell them that evil don't exist in their eyes. Fuck Romeo and Juliet: this is the story of me and my girl, from my lips. No mushy sentiment, no cheese, just the plain, hard truth, and, because I'm feeling generous, I'm going to let you in on more of our story too. 

Sweet Rome is a New Adult Companion Novel to Sweet Home — contains adult content, sexual situations and mature topics. Suited for ages 18 and up.

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON UK / AMAZON US / BARNES & NOBLE / KOBO / SMASHWORDS

About Tillie Cole

Tillie Cole is a Northern girl through and through. She originates from a place called Teesside on that little but awesomely sunny (okay I exaggerate) Isle called Great Britain. She was brought up surrounded by her English rose mother -- a farmer's daughter, her crazy Scottish father, a savagely sarcastic sister and a multitude of rescue animals and horses. Being a scary blend of Scottish and English, Tillie embraces both cultures; her English heritage through her love of HP sauce and freshly made Yorkshire Puddings, and her Scottish which is mostly demonstrated by her frighteningly foul-mouthed episodes of pure rage and her much loved dirty jokes.

Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Website

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Day Blitz Organized by

Blog Tour ~ The Replacement by Rachael Wade

A gritty New Adult drama about a young woman’s self-destructive quest to find purpose, self-worth, and love in a broken world.

My name is Elise Duchamp. I’m twenty-three years old and I’m known as the town whore.

No, not the kind who exchanges sexual favors for money. The other kind. The kind who gives it all away for free, whenever and however she likes. I am that girl. The one everyone whispers about and the one none of the girls seem to like, because all of their boyfriends either want to sleep with me or already have. Promiscuity is my thing—the kind that slowly, violently turns my insides black, but gives me something I need.

All things considered, I’m not completely reckless. I’m safe, and contrary to popular opinion, I do have a heart. I live in a world of careless choices, and with those choices come careless people. I cannot judge them, because I am one of them. I too bow down to the altar of the self-serving. I am not a good friend. I am not and never could be anyone’s girlfriend. I’m convinced any goodness in me shriveled up and died long ago.

But I am a replacement. That is something I know how to be, and this is a story of the lengths I’d go to in order to keep it that way.

*Contains sexually explicit content and mature subject matter, including language and elements of abuse.*

Purchase Links

Amazon / Amazon UK / B&N / Smashwords

AUTHOR BIO

Rachael Wade is the Amazon bestselling author of The Preservation Series, The Resistance Trilogy, and the upcoming sci-fi series, The Keepers Trilogy. When she’s not writing, she’s busy learning French, watching too many movies, and learning how to protect animals and the environment. Visit her at www.RachaelWade.com and www.LightsOnOutreach.com, or come chat with her on Twitter via @RachaelWade.

Author links

Website / Goodreads / Twitter

4.75-5 Stars

“That’s all you are, you slut —a replacement. Sloppy seconds and an in-between quickie for every guy in this town who’s looking to fill a hole.” 

Rachael Wade has outdone herself.. I’m a huge fan of her and her stories, but this was Rachael at her finest. Pardon me if this review doesn’t do the justice this story deserves. I haven’t read anything like this in a long time. This wasn’t easy to read. It’s a story about a woman’s journey to find her true identity. Her journey isn’t pretty: It’s painful, destructive, but oh so worth it.

“You’re still a little piece of heaven, baby,” he pants against my mouth, “even if your halo’s broken.” 

Elise isn’t very easy to like. You have to know right now, Elise is self-destructive…very self-destructive. Her self-worth is pretty non-existent. The only time she feels anything is during sex. The high she gets when she looks at herself through the eyes of her lover is unlike anything. It’s because of this that she’s earned herself quite a reputation. But does she care? Of course, but it doesn’t stop her. She thinks she’s not worth loving, but things start to change when she meets Ryder. 

He is singlehandedly the most sexy, gentle man I have ever laid hands on, and he is completely oblivious to who and what I am. 

Ryder is unlike any man Elise has met. He challenges her from the very beginning. He’s smart, sexy, extremely sweet and oh so patient. I cannot begin to explain the impact Ryder has on Elise. Of course she doesn’t make it easy on him. She fights her feelings; her inner demons always battling. There were even times where her self-destructive behavior had me reeling. But through it all, Ryder remained steadfast and never gave up fighting for her. She needed a man like him to prove that she is worth more than she ever thought possible.

“I love you, Ryder. But I think…” My hands drop from his shoulders and fall to my sides. “I need to be my something.”

“Be your something?” His brows pinch and he studies my face.

“Before I can be yours.” 

Before having the honor of Beta reading this for Ms. Wade, she did warn me that I might have issues with our heroine. So to be fair, I had to dive into this story with a clear and open mind, otherwise I don’t think I would’ve liked Elise as much as I did. I actually applaud Elise for her I don’t give a shit what people think about me attitude. She’s the first heroine I came across that I actually felt sympathetic to her destructive behavior. And I don’t know about you, but it was refreshing to read about a promiscuous heroine rather than a typical man-whore Hero. Elise does have a lot of redeemable qualities about her and I never gave up hope. You have to understand, to read an actual story in which the heroine actually doesn’t piss me off is a rarity. How Ms. Wade pulled this off is a fucking miracle. I am in utter awe of this story and I’m so proud of this author for stepping out of her comfort zone to write such a unique and beautifully raw story. Bravo!

Oh. Before I go, I need to make one little tiny plea: I would LOVE a spinoff story about Christian. He’s one of Elise’s conquests, but holy crap was he one sexy character. Just sayin’ :)

Concealed (Hidden #1) by Victoria Michaels

Title: Concealed

Author: Victoria Michaels

Series: Hidden #1

Release Date: December 9, 2013

Synopsis:

Life has been complicated for Sydney Ross. Desperate for a new start, she leaves home but, during her travels, witnesses something that will forever alter the path of her life. On the run for the last six years, Sydney finds herself living the life of a nomad until she one day stumbles into a small town and hopes she’s finally found a place to put down roots. With a good job in a local diner and, for the first time ever, friends who feel like family, things start looking up for Sydney. The biggest shock of all is catching the eye of the town’s most eligible bachelor, the sexy sheriff, Wade Jenkins.

Sparks fly between them, and it’s not long before Sydney believes Elton, Missouri could be the home she’s always wished for. But Sydney’s past and her secrets have a way of catching up with her. When a brutal murder shakes the small town, Sydney is terrified that the countdown has begun on her time in Elton.

Have the shadows from her past found her again? The people who mean the most want her to stay, but that would put everyone, including her daughter, at risk. Can Sydney put her faith in Wade or will she keep running from a danger that even she doesn’t fully understand?

Read an excerpt of Concealed here:
http://victoriamichaels.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Concealed_Excerpt.pdf 

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo 

Book Trailer:
http://victoriamichaels.net/books/concealed/ 

Author website:

http://victoriamichaels.net/ 

 Five Stars 

Keeps your heart racing from beginning to end! 

WOW!!! I have enjoyed Victoria Michaels' contemporary romances. I've been waiting for her to release something new, and I was ecstatic to find out Concealed is a romantic-suspense/thriller, which is one of my favorite genres. Concealed absolutely gripped me! I was pulled in immediately in the prologue, and my heart kept racing until the very end!

I love how the romance in Concealed is slow, simmering, and butterfly-producing. Sydney finds herself smitten with the small town of Elton with its handsome sheriff smitten with her! The connection between Sydney and Wade is written with charm and ease. Just thinking of their first kiss makes me all giddy! I love it when an author makes me feel that way, don't you?

Concealed has everything that I want in a mystery thriller. There's a good reason why Sydney has been on the run, and the suspense kept my rapt attention page after page. The characters are all so likeable and well developed. The people Sydney works with are sincere and fun. Her neighbor is just full of awesome. Sydney's daughter is the cutest little thing. I ended up caring about them all! Plus, the pacing of the story is perfect and there were twists that I didn't see coming...goodness!

If you're looking for a nail-biting, romantic thriller, I highly recommend Concealed. I consider this Victoria Michaels' BEST work thus far!

 

Entangled Covet January Releases ~ Love at Stake, Haunt Me

Covets have all the sexiness, emotion, and happily ever after that readers have come to expect and love from Entangled. They are firmly grounded in the contemporary world, but each novel brings in supernatural twists, breaking the contemporary and paranormal rules, alike. To find out more about their titles, chat with authors, participate in special events, and to find out what books you’ll be coveting next, visit the Entangled website, follow them on Twitter, LIKE their Facebook page, and join the Book Club.

Also, make sure to hop on over the Entangled in Romance blog to join in the fun as Covet challenges readers to share their worst date stories. The worse, the better, hold no punches!

Today I'm happy to be featuring Covet's January releases:

Love at Stake by Victoria Davies

Abbey is the lone human working for Fated Match, a company that pairs members of the supernatural community with their eternal mates.

To snag a young vampire socialite as their next client, Abbey journeys to the home of Lucian Redgrave, the oldest vampire on the East Coast. But he's not willing to allow his vampire daughter to use the agency... unless Abbey can first find his perfect match in a month.

As Abbey coaches Lucian through his dates, she can’t deny the chemistry between them. But humans are toys for vampires, and risking her heart isn't a part of the plan.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Goodreads

Haunt Me by Heather Long

Recently divorced author MacKenzie Dillon has lost her writing mojo. When she inherits her great aunt’s haunted house in Virginia, she is determined to make a new start. The creepy old house provides inspiration but at what cost?

Successful architect and paranormal skeptic Justin Kent returns to Penny Hollow to fulfill his father’s dying wish of revitalizing their small town. To do that, he needs the allegedly haunted estate at Summerfield. Mac, the new owner, may be gorgeous and spunky, but she refuses to sell.

These two have a dangerous history that spans the ages, but will they discover the truth in time to save their lives?

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

Masquerade (Games #3) by Nyrae Dawn

Title: Masquerade

Author: Nyrae Dawn

Series: Games #3

Release date: January 7, 2014 

Synopsis: 

A biker. A tattoo artist. A love to last a lifetime.

 Maddox Cross has always had to be tough. When his father went to jail for murder, the teenager took care of his sister and mother. Now on his own and working security at a night club, Maddox wants to become a tattoo artist-a dream that comes closer to reality when he falls for the hottest, most tatted woman he's ever seen. She's wild and beautiful, and Maddox will do anything to be with her.

Bee Malone came to town to open up her new tattoo parlor, Masquerade. Since being kidnapped as a young girl, Bee has had trouble getting close to anyone. But when she meets Maddox, she sees that under his hard biker's body is the sensitive soul of an artist. What starts out as a sizzling one-night stand soon becomes so much more.

Bee wants Maddox to join her tattoo business, but letting him into her life means revealing all her most intimate secrets. And as the past begins to intertwine with her present, Bee fears their love may not be as permanent as their ink . . . 

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

Games series:

Charade

Facade

Masquerade

Four Stars

You all know what a sucker I am for bad boys, especially the tattooed and pierced variety, and the fact that I sorta fell for Maddox in in all his fucked-up glory in Facade, I simply couldn't wait for this installment in the series. Although, very rarely do I fall just as hard for the heroine in the story but I fell head over heels in love with Bee!! She IS the tattooed, pierced, badass hottie of the story, well one of them anyway! :)

We're not perfect, though none of us are. We're works in progress and what matters is that we're moving forward and we're doing it together. In love.

When Bee first opens her tattoo shop, Masquerade, she heads over to the local watering hole for a drink. This is where she stumbles upon dark and brooding(and gorgeous)Maddox Cross. The attraction is instant and the sparks fly. Now since both our hero and heroine have secrets a plenty, they decide the only way to make this work is a hot an dirty one night stand, which commences, and then they go their separate ways.

However, Maddox wants nothing more than to be a tattoo artist and is hoping that the owner of the new tattoo shop that just opened is willing to give him a shot at being an apprentice. Little does he know that said owner of that shop is the one and only gorgeous woman that he attempted to slate his lust with the night before.

Do you see when this is going? I bet you do!

Bee reluctantly agrees to give him a shot, provided that what happened the night before can NEVER happen again!! Yeah, that so doesn't work!
Of course they become quite entangled in each others lives all the while denying that they are falling hard for each other. Even while denying the attraction they are there for each other in ways they don't begin to realize and a bond begins to form. There is a little pushing as well from Lindsay, Maddox's sister as well :)

Love is support. It's doing your best to take care of people instead of hurting them. It doesn't mean you're perfect. It means doing everything you can to be there for the ones you love. Wanting what's best for them and loving them for who they are too.

I really love the emotion in this book, in the entire series for that matter, it is so intense you can almost feel the joy and pain coming off of the pages. It is an emotional ride with a gorgeous, bad ass biker and an awesome, tattooed, bad ass chick who finally learn that love can slay all of your dragons!!

I will leave you with my favorite paragraph that to me is the heart of the story!

Reality. It's not living a lie like so many of the people we know have done. It's not treating life like a game of charades or living behind any type of facade. Life is fucked up. It hurts, and it's not always pretty, but damned if it can't be beautiful too.

Cover Reveal ~ Invincible by Alana Albertson

Genre: New Adult Romantic Thriller

Organized by: Indie Sage, LLC

Tentative Release Date: February 23, 2014

Synopsis

I'll be honest with you—I'm no hero. Sure—the media tries to brand every Navy SEAL as some kind of Batman dressed in cammies. There’s even a line in one of our cadences—"superman is the man of steel, he ain’t no match for Navy SEAL." You've seen the movies—we're indestructible, invincible, invulnerable. But that night, the one you read about in the papers—all I really wanted to do was get laid.

One harmless fuck with a Curaçao whore—no strings attached. I picked her out of a lineup—wild, dark hair, long legs and a crooked smile. After she sucked me off, I relaxed back onto the creaky, cum-stained cot, thankful for the blissful moments she gave me when I actually forgot for a second the faces of my buddies who died because I made the wrong call, the tears of the children I couldn't save, and the eyes of the enemies I slaughtered during their last seconds of life. 

But before I left, her green eyes peered into my soul. She whispered in a distinct So Cal accent, "My name is Annie Baylis. I'm an American citizen. I was kidnapped from a cruise ship five years ago. You're my last hope. Please save me."

One desperate plea. This wasn’t a Hollywood blockbuster or a New York Times best-selling thriller. I knew that this time there was no room for excuses, no margin for errors. I had one chance to put the cape on and be her hero.

Read Chapter One at TotallyBooked

About the Author

Alana Albertson is the former President of both Romance Writers of America’s Young Adult and  Chick Lit chapters and the founder of Academe Advantage, a college admissions & test preparation company. Alana Albertson holds a Masters of Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University.

A recovering professional ballroom dancer, Alana currently writes contemporary romance and young adult fiction. She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, two young sons, and four dogs. When she’s not spending her time needlepointing,  dancing, or saving dogs from high kill shelters through  Pugs N Roses, the rescue she founded, she can be found watching episodes of House Hunters, Homeland, or Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.

Contact Alana

Facebook / Goodreads / Website / Pinterest / Amazon