Holly's Favorite Reads of 2014

(In no particular order)

DIRTY ANGELS (Dirty Angels #1)

by Karina Halle

***WARNING*** This book deals with drug cartels and as such it contains a lot of sex and violence and some violent sex. It can get pretty ugly, pretty dark and pretty crazy. There is drug use, abuse, a bit of torture and dubious consent. The hero is not a hero and the villains...well, they're even worse. If this sort

of thing bothers you, PLEASE DO NOT READ IT. This ain't no cupcake farting unicorn kind of book. If you are even a bit squeamish about violence, brutality and rape, this is your warning to stay away from a book that you certainly will not like (and why read books that you know you won't like?)***

Enough said, right??

AMAZON | Goodreads

THE STORY OF US (CARNAGE #1)

by Lesley Jones

ASTONISHING, BREATHTAKING, EXTRAORDINARY, BRILLIANT, INCREDIBLE, MAGNIFICENT....THESE ARE JUST A FEW WORDS THAT COME TO MIND WHEN I THINK ABOUT THIS STORY, AND I AM NOT KIDDING WHEN I TELL YOU I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!!!

This was probably the BIGGEST book hangover of the year for me!! All I can say is READ IT!!

AMAZON | Goodreads

THE EVER TRILOGY

by Jasinda Wilder

O.M.G – The feels in this trilogy almost did me in!! I cried so much it was ridiculous! Loved every single minute of it!!

Forever & Always (#1) ~ AMAZON | Goodreads

After Forever (#2) ~ AMAZON | Goodreads

Saving Forever (#3) ~ AMAZON | Goodreads

BAD ROMEO (Starcrossed #1)

by Leisa Rayven

This was a random pic for me that just sounded good and I was RIGHT!! It was great! It was actually about 400 pages of foreplay with some smokin’ hot sex at the end!! Lots of fun and a hot read!

AMAZON | Goodreads

INSIDIOUS (Tales from the Dark Side #1)

by Aleatha Romig

I love ‘em dark and twisted and Oh Yeah! This one totally fits the bill. Aleatha Romig is a Queen of Mind Fuckery, and to that I say…THANK YOU!

AMAZON | Goodreads

CLIPPED WINGS & INKED ARMOR

by Helena Hunting

These came highly recommended to me by a dear friend who knows what a sucker I am for a tattooed, pierced bad boy and IT WAS FANTASTIC!!

Clipped Wings (#1) ~ AMAZON | Goodreads

Inked Armor (#2) ~ AMAZON | Goodreads

DEBT

by Nina G. Jones

OMFG!!! This one just soared to the top of my all time favorites list!!!! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!

AMAZON | Goodreads

THE SAINT & THE KING

by Tiffany Reisz

Everything by Tiffany Reisz is PURE GOLD!!! The End!

The Saint (Original Sinners: The White Years #1) ~ AMAZON | Goodreads

The King (Original Sinners: The White Years #2) ~ AMAZON | Goodreads

ETERNALLY NORTH

by Tillie Cole

This was my very first Tillie Cole book and I was instantly in love!! Tudor North is delicious!!

AMAZON | Goodreads

IT AIN’T ME BABE (Hades Hangmen #1)

by Tillie Cole

What I love most about Tillie Cole is that she can write with such amazing diversity! She can write a beautifully sweet story like Eternally North and then this AWESOME biker/cult gem that was one of the best things I read all year!!

AMAZON | Goodreads

 

NINE MINUTES (Nine Minutes #1)

by Beth Flynn

This was a very different type of biker story, I think – but if you are a fan of the biker stories and you aren’t squeamish, then I highly recommend this one!

AMAZON | Goodreads

UNDERESTIMATED & UNDERESTIMATED TOO

by Jettie Woodruff

This was my first book(s) by Ms Woodruff and HOLY SHIT did I have massive book hangover!! These books are dark, twisted and have several ‘Oh Hell No!’ moments! I mean seriously, how can you resist a warning like this….Warning! This is not your everyday fall in love romance. This book contains disturbing situations, strong language, graphic, sexual content - some forced, some not. If it's a happily ever after love story that you are looking for, you should probably move on. If you are up for the ride, stick around and it may just turn into a love story after all.

Underestimated ~ AMAZON | Goodreads

Underestimated Too ~ AMAZON | Goodreads

PUDDLE JUMPING

by Amber L Johnson

“I don’t believe there’s such a thing as conventional love. Love is bending. Love is breaking. Love is constantly learning about the other person until you go crazy because it will never be perfect, but there’s no fault in trying. I’ve loved a boy who was extraordinary beyond words, in my eyes.” I FUCKING LOVED THIS BEAUTIFUL BOOK!! HARD!!

AMAZON | Goodreads

THERAPY

by Kathryn Perez

Accepting the ugly shit in life is just part of living. Pain tells us we are still here; it lets us know we've survived. Phenomenal story! Some parts were a little hard to read but excellent and incredibly emotional!

AMAZON | Goodreads

PUSH (Push #1)

by Claire Wallis

I wasn’t really sure what to make of this book when I finished it, I just kind of sat there for awhile letting it all soak in. I’m still not sure I can accurately describe my feelings for this story other than to tell you that it gave me almost a week-long book hangover! Oh, and that I can’t wait for book two.

AMAZON | Goodreads

TRANSCENDENCE

by Shay Savage

This book has the award for most unique – I had my doubts about a story about a caveman but it was FANTASTICALLY AMAZING and caused another major book hangover.

AMAZON | Goodreads

SOCIOPATH

by Lime Craven

I truly love me a great anti-hero and that is exactly what you get with Aeron Lore! I loved him, loved the writing and can honestly say this book alone has made Lime Craven and auto buy author for me!

AMAZON | Goodreads

Captured by Jasinda and Jack Wilder #Review

Title: Captured
Authors: Jasinda and Jack Wilder
Release Date: August 12, 2014

Synopsis:
Love is never easy. It’s especially difficult when you love a career Marine. I knew the risk when I said “I do”, but I chose to love Thomas anyway. 

War took him from me, and now I’m alone. Struggling and desperate. There’s no hope, no future. Just the endless cycle of day-to-day survival. But a letter returned will change all of that. 

Hope and companionship, and even love, often come from the last place you’d think to look, when you least expect it. 

* * *

I was a lost, broken soul, a Marine tortured by the memories of what I’d endured. When I visited that old farmhouse in rural Texas, all I wanted to do was return the letter. Keep a promise. 

What I got was healing. Understanding. The chance to find a measure of peace when all I’ve ever known is war.

We both lost everything. But in each other, we found something worth fighting for.

Five Stars

(Before book release) O.M.F.G!!! Jack and Jasinda together....There is no way this story won't rock my world!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!

8/20/14
Ok, I just finished and after I blow my nose some more and get it together I will be reviewing this EFFING AMAZING BOOK!!! BRAVO WILDER'S - JUST WHEN I THINK I CAN'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE, YOU DO THIS TO ME!! :)

8/24/14
So....you know those authors who when you pick up their books you just know you are in for a wonderfully, amazing ride?? Do any of you have any of those? I do, quite a few in fact and both Jack & Jasinda Wilder fall totally into that category!

Let me go back a little, now I know Captured is a standalone and so is Wounded, but I HIGHLY recommend reading Wounded first. You really need to meet Hunter and Raina and live their story to fully experience Derek and Reagan's!

Oh Derek...Where do I even begin, probably not with Derek, that's where. I guess I need to start with how much emotion every single page of this book made me feel. Now, I know men that are war veterans, some are very good friends of mine, but I have never loved a military man and all I can say is god bless the women who love them as much as those men themselves. 

When Derek and Tom are captured and held prisoner by the Taliban, it is Tom's dying wish that Derek make it home alive to tell his wife that he loved her more than anything, of course the last thing Derek ever expected was to fall in love with his best friends wife. The ache that Derek experiences from the survivors guilt to trying to learn how to love as a civilian again at times literally made my heart hurt!!

“You’re beautiful, and you are wanted. I know I’m not supposed to feel that way about you, but fuck it. I do.” ~Derek 

I really don't want to give anything away by going into story detail but I will tell you this is a beautifully heartbreaking story of love and loss, but also an amazing story of survival and learning to live and love again after unspeakable tragedy. Oh yeah, and the sex...Holy Shitballs, can the Wilder's write sex scenes(in which I may have re-read occasionally, just sayin') HOT! HOT! HOT!!

I have to share what I think might be my favorite quote from this book, ok, one of them at least, but this one made me laugh right out loud, which I admit I needed after all the ugly crying it made me do! ;)

'My girl writes books. Who knew? She writes these kinky, steamy novels about military men and the women who love them. They make me blush like a schoolgirl, but they sell like hookers on a two-for-Tuesday.'~Derek

Oh, and btw, did I forget to mention that we get to spend some wonderful time with Hunter and Raina and see a little bit into the beautiful life they're finally building together!! Enjoy y'all!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

About the authors:

Jasinda

NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, WALL STREET JOURNAL and international bestselling author Jasinda Wilder is a Michigan native with a penchant for titillating tales about sexy men and strong women. Her bestselling titles include ALPHA, STRIPPED, WOUNDED, and the #1 Amazon and international bestseller FALLING INTO YOU.  You can find her on her farm in Northern Michigan with her husband, author Jack Wilder, her five children and menagerie of animals.

Jack

Jack Wilder—aka Mr. Wilder—is one half of the The Wilders. You might know his wife, Jasinda Wilder, as the author of such bestselling books such as Falling Into You, Falling Into Us, Stripped, Wounded, and Alpha, among many others. The Missionary is Jack’s first solo work, followed by Captured, written in collaboration with Jasinda.

Jack, Jasinda, and their five children live on a farm in northern Michigan.

http://jasindawilder.com/

Alpha by Jasinda Wilder #Review and e-book #Giveaway

Title: ALPHA

Author: Jasinda Wilder

Release Date: April 29, 2014

Self-published

Synopsis:

The first time it happened, it seemed like an impossible miracle. Bills were piling up, adding up to more money than I could ever make. Mom's hospital bills. My baby brother's tuition. My tuition. Rent. Electricity. All of it on my shoulders. And I had just lost my job. There was no hope, no money in my account, no work to be found. And then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I found an envelope in the mail. No return address. My name on the front, my address. Inside was a check, made out to me, in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Enough to pay the bills and leave me some left over to live on until I found a job. Enough to let me focus on classes. There was no name on the check, just "VRI Inc.," and a post office box address for somewhere in the city. No hint of identity or reason for the check or anything. No mention of repayment, interest, nothing…except a single word, on the notes line: "You." Just those three letters.

If you receive a mysterious check, for enough money to erase all your worries, would you cash it?

I did.

The next month, I received another check, again from VRI Incorporated. It too contained a single word: "belong."

A third check, the next month. This time, two words. Four letters. "To me."

The checks kept coming. The notes stopped. Ten thousand dollars, every month. A girl gets used to that, real quick. It let me pay the bills without going into debt. Let me keep my baby brother in school and Mom's hospice care paid for. How do you turn down what seems like free money, when you're desperate? You don't. I didn't.

And then, after a year, there was a knock on my door. A sleek black limousine sat on the curb in front of my house. A driver stood in front of me, and he spoke six words: "It's time to pay your debt."

Would you have gotten in?

I did.

It turns out $120,000 doesn't come free.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Author Website:

jasindawilder.com

4.5 SMOKIN HOT, ALPHA DELICIOUSNESS STARS!! I LOVED EVERY STEAMY, HEART POUNDING SECOND!!

Now, you might be asking why, if I loved it so much am I only giving this yummy book 4.5 stars instead of 5? Well, I only have one teeny tiny complaint....NO EPILOGUE! I really, really, really would have loved and epilogue to this story! However, I am easily appeased by the FUCKING, SMOKING HOT, and I do mean SMOKING HOT Bonus Scene!

This book was so friggin' hot it was like foreplay! Seriously, if you walk away from reading any of this book and you are not super turned on then you are broken! I mean it!! :)

"Not a word from you, Kyrie." He didn't look at me, his voice retaining quiet intensity. "One word out of you and I'll snap. I'll pull you into the nearest alley and fuck you where you sit. You're flushed and nervous and the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and you smell like expensive wine and good food and pussy. I'm barely holding onto my restraint right now, so if you want our first time together to have anything like romance to it, then shut it. All right, love?" 

See...?? If Valentine Roth doesn't make you swoon simply with words then you are definitely broken!!

This is the story of a very wealthy man who, well sorta, buys his way into this woman's life. Kyrie's life if spiraling out of control, after losing her job, getting evicted from her apartment and wondering how she is going to keep her brother in school and her mom in the facility she is in, she isn't sure what to do next. That is until she receives a ten thousand dollar check in the mail, followed by another every month for a year. Things are going well but Kyrie is too smart not to know that there is going to come a point where she has to pay the piper so to speak. After a year, a man comes to 'collect' Kyrie explaining that she now belongs to the man who has been sending her the checks. Enter Valentine Roth....who has jumped to the front of my book boyfriend list!!

Never, before this moment, had there ever been a kiss that stole my will to pull away, that devoured my capacity for thought, that removed my ability to resist, to feel anything but the kiss. 

At this point, the smokin' hotness I was referring to before begins!!

I loved this book and I am super excited to see that Ms. Wilder just released that there will be another book to the story!! It is apparently a standalone as well but I am just hoping it's more, more, more Valentine!!

~*~ BLOG-HOSTED GIVEAWAY ~*~
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The Ever Trilogy by Jasinda Wilder

Forever & Always (#1)

Ever,

These letters are often all that get me through week to week. Even if it’s just random stuff, nothing important, they’re important to me. Gramps is great, and I love working on the ranch. But…I’m lonely. I feel disconnected, like I’m no one, like I don’t belong anywhere. Like I’m just here until something else happens. I don’t even know what I want with my future. But your letters, they make me feel connected to something, to someone. I had a crush on you, when we first met. I thought you were beautiful. So beautiful. It was hard to think of anything else. Then camp ended and we never got together, and now all I have of you is these letters. S**t. I just told you I have a crush on you. HAD. Had a crush. Not sure what is anymore. A letter-crush? A literary love? That’s stupid. Sorry. I just have this rule with myself that I never throw away what I write and I always send it, so hopefully this doesn’t weird you out too much. I had a dream about you too. Same kind of thing. Us, in the darkness, together. Just us. And it was like you said, a memory turned into a dream, but a memory of something that’s never happened, but in the dream it felt so real, and it was more, I don’t even know, more RIGHT than anything I’ve ever felt, in life or in dreams. I wonder what it means that we both had the same dream about each other. Maybe nothing, maybe everything. You tell me.

Cade

~ ~ ~ ~

Cade,

We’re pen pals. Maybe that’s all we’ll ever be. I don’t know. If we met IRL (in real life, in case you’re not familiar with the term) what would happen? And just FYI, the term you used, a literary love? It was beautiful. So beautiful. That term means something, between us now. We are literary loves. Lovers? I do love you, in some strange way. Knowing about you, in these letters, knowing your hurt and your joys, it means something so important to me, that I just can’t describe. I need your art, and your letters, and your literary love. If we never have anything else between us, I need this. I do. Maybe this letter will only complicate things, but like you I have a rule that I never erase or throw away what I’ve written and I always send it, no matter what I write in the letter.

Your literary love,

Ever

After Forever (#2)

Ever,

I don’t know who I am anymore. I’m a castaway. Lost. Drowning. I love you. That’s the only true thing I know, and it’s all I have to hold on to. I love you. I’ll love you forever. Until the day I die, and I’ll love you in whatever world comes after this one. I love you so much, Ever. I miss you. Dear Jesus, I miss you. Come back to me.

For forever, and after forever,

Caden

Saving Forever (#3)

Ever and Cade,

Sorry I vanished like I did. I’m not sure I can even explain things. I don’t know when I’ll be back. IF I’ll be back. I’m not sure of anything, except that I love you, Ever. You’re my twin, my best friend, and leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I know you don’t understand. Maybe you never will. I hope you don’t, honestly. It would be easier that way. That’s cowardly, I’m sure.

Cade, take care of her. Love her, the way she deserves. The way you always have, for forever and always.

If I could ask you anything, it’s that you remember me as I was, and forget me as I am.

I’m sorry, and goodbye, and I love you.

Eden

15+++ FANTASTIC STARS FOR THE ENTIRE TRILOGY!!!

I have to start by saying how much I LOVED this series!! SO much so that it has been a couple days since I finished and I can’t seem to get these great characters out of my head! I know I am posting this review on book 3 but this is going to encompass all three books and I am going to try my damndest to keep it spoiler free. I want to try to express how amazing this story was without giving away any of the ‘OMG-Holy Shit-WTF! That did not just happen’ parts.

We start in book one with Caden and Ever meeting at art camp at 14 and hitting it off, they become instant friends. Now, of course they are young and live quite a distance from each other, so they decide to become pen pals at the end of camp. Now, in this day and age of social media, texting and every kid over the age of 6 having their own cell phone, I was just giddy at the idea of pen pals! Actual letter writing, sending in the mail, pen pals! Oh, and their letters over the next four years are just beautiful. I love Cade and Ever together!! However, if there ever was a boy who needed some good luck it’s Cade! Holy Shit, that boy is simply amazing for just not losing his shit over the years. So many shitty things happen in his life that you just want to stop everything and hug him, like every few pages!

But through it all he had his letters to Ever and hers to him and they both grow into adulthood! When they finally get together IRL (in real life) it is simply magical – there is just no other word for it. It’s like they became whole once they finally made it to each other. I like to think this is my favorite of the three books just because it is sweet and hopeful and we need that to get through what’s coming!

Ok, I’m not sure how to go on to book two without giving shit away so I am going to be very vague, sorry but all I can say is YOU NEED TO READ THESE!

“I love you. No matter what. Forever and Always.”

Tragedy strikes at the end of book one. And turns their lives upside down! All of their lives. Including the life of Ever’s twin sister, Eden, who hasn’t had a real big part up until now but is thrown into the thick of it. This is probably one of the saddest, most emotional stories I have ever been totally captivated by! And I was, TOTALLY CAPTIVATED. You can actually feel the pain radiating off of the pages! There were parts that I would all of a sudden realize I had been crying because it was heartbreaking!

Now don’t lose faith, we have to get through the pain to come out the other side, right? Well, pull your sobbing ass through book two and on to book three where we have overcome tragedy, but now there are some issues that have to be dealt with. Sometimes grief and loneliness result in some unwise choices and when those come to light we need to deal with the consequences.

“Sometimes, all you can do is push through. Make mistakes and accept them.”

Book three finds the addition of a new character, Carter, whom I loved btw! Eden meets him when she moves up to Traverse City. I can’t give you a whole lot more, other than there are a lot of things to be resolved in book three and I promise you they are and you will end satisfied, although emotionally drained! All of them and I promise you all of our characters get a hard won, well deserved HEA!