[BLOG TOUR] Rusty Nailed by Alice Clayton

It's that time of year for blog tours!


Another lovely tour I'm participating in, this one by the lovely Alice Clayton and the sequel (or second-in-the-series book) to 'Wallbanger', titled "Rusty Nailed"

The Synopsis:

In this sequel to Wallbanger, the second book in the Cocktail series, fan favorites Caroline and Simon negotiate the rollercoaster of their new relationship while house-sitting in San Francisco.

Playing house was never so much fun—or so confusing. With her boss on her honeymoon, Caroline’s working crazy long hours to keep the interior design company running—especially since she’s also the lead designer for the renovation of a gorgeous old hotel on Sausalito. So with her hotshot photographer boyfriend gallivanting all over the world for his job, she and Simon are heavy-duty into “absence makes the heart grow fonder” mode. Neither has any complaints about the great reunion sex, though! Then Simon decides he’s tired of so much travelling, and he’s suddenly home more. A lot more. And wanting Caroline home more, too. Though their friends’ romantic lives provide plenty of welcome distraction, eventually Caroline and Simon have to sort their relationship out. Neither wants “out of sight, out of mind,” but can they create their own happy mid-ground cliché?

USA TODAY bestselling author Alice Clayton delivers another delicious, frothy cocktail of a book, shaking up her characters, stirring in laugh-out-loud humor, and serving sizzling romance straight up!

Goodreads link


Release date is June 26

For all of you who are super excited for this release i have an awesome giveaway!
If you pre-order Rusty Nailed, any format from any site, submit your pre-order proof or receipt to giveaways@aliceclayton.com. The winner will receive Caroline's favorite mixer, in any colour! (http://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/-%5BKSM150PSER%5D-400120/KSM150PSER/)

International and Domestic entries are accepted. 

Giveaway ends on release date: June 26!

I wish you all the best of luck!

[BLOG TOUR] Sweet Filthy Boy by Christina Lauren

Another new blog tour I'm participating in!

It's for the release of Christina Lauren's ('Beautiful Bastard' series) new book, "Sweet Filthy Boy".

The Synopsis:
The New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Bastard, Beautiful Stranger, and Beautiful Player starts a brand new story of friends, love, and lust with Book One of the Wild Seasons series.

One-night stands are supposed to be with someone convenient, or wickedly persuasive, or regrettable. They aren’t supposed to be with someone like him.

But after a crazy Vegas weekend celebrating her college graduation—and terrified of the future path she knows is a cop-out—Mia Holland makes the wildest decision of her life: follow Ansel Guillaume—her sweet, filthy fling—to France for the summer and just…play.

When feelings begin to develop behind the provocative roles they take on, and their temporary masquerade adventures begin to feel real, Mia will have to decide if she belongs in the life she left because it was all wrong, or in the strange new one that seems worlds away.

Goodreads link
For those who are fans of the Beautiful Series you don't want to miss this one!

Release date is May 13th. 

Click the links below to pre-order your copy today 
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble

[REVIEW] Broken and Screwed by Tijan

Broken and Screwed by Tijan
Published: Feb 2013
Age Group: New Adult
Series: BS #1

I've always enjoyed Tijan's books and I'm glad that Broken and Screwed lived up to my expectations.

The Broken and Screwed follows the main character Alex and Jesse. Two childhood friends who were as close as siblings, who are dealing with Alex's brothers death. Alex was a party girl after her brother's death she becomes withdrawn and depressed. Side note: nothing to do with the story but I always found it peculiar that a typical high school girl is a popular party girl. I don't remember ever being that socially active in high school... Am I the only one who feels that way? Perhaps. I'm strange like that. 

Anyway Alex's depressed and Jesse acts like the complete opposite. At the start Jesse was popular already, being the overly hot guy in school, but after his best friend-basically-brother's death he becomes even more popular and even more socially involved. The basic plot of the story is how Jesse and Alex try to find a way to cope with the death and their feelings for each other. I found it quite interesting how both Alex and Jesse are so opposite and so attracted to each other. As they always say, opposites attract. 

I like how the story starts out, it hooks you in and wants to make you know more about the story while also hitting you hard with action and intense emotions. 

There's not much to say about this story to be honest. In my opinion, it's a story that will either hit you hard psychologically or go over your head. The story deals with some topics that some people will relate to much more than others will. I tried to understand the situation through the character's feelings but it's very hard to do so never really experiencing anything like it. I think Tijan does a good job having the story told consistently by the characters throughout. I feel like it would be really easy to become overwhelmed with the emotions of the situations that could result in making a character act out of their personality but each of the characters always acts appropriately. Alex is a very withdrawn person who closes herself off so much that she finds it very hard to experience any emotion and is often indifferent to events. Whereas Jesse is a person who is quick to explode and react which he does often. Each of the characters has a distinct personality and never do anything to contradict it which I greatly appreciate.

There is a lot of common features from both this series and Tijan's Fallen Crest series. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or just a writing style that Tijan often employs in the books. I'm interested to see how the sequel will turn out.

3.5 - 4 cups of tea

MEH

If you like this check these other tea loving books out:

• Fallen Crest High by Tijan
• Choosing you by Allie Everhart
• Torn by K.A. Robinson
• The Perfect Game by J. Sterling

[REVIEW + BLOG TOUR] Return to Kadenburg by T.E. Ridener

Return to Kadenburg by T.E. Ridener
Published: March 2014
Series: The Kadenburg Shifters #2

Arc courtesy of T.E. Ridener in exchange for an honest review and taking part in this blog tour. Thank you!

Book 2 takes place right after Book 1, The Truth about Kadenburg.  I read them consecutively so it felt like one big book in my opinion. I'll try to focus only on the second book in this review though.

The story evokes the same feelings as the first one. I love reading paranormal romance stories especially ones with twists in them. Shifting bears? Yeah, I'm sure that's pretty different from typical stories. I enjoyed it. the romance and chemistry between the two main characters is also still present in the book. The focus has shifted though from Presley and Lorcan though. Enter their childhood friend, Rutley. 

I feel like the author thought to herself, what can Rutley be so that he makes the biggest splash when he jumps into the story. That's why he's a werewolf hunter! Well more like a shifter hunter. If you need reminding, Lorcan and Presley are shifters!!! If it's still not clear, THIS MEANS DRAMA! And as a reader, anticipating drama is always lovely. Rutley is a character that makes me laugh. He seems so serious at the start. I kept thinking what a cocky fellow he is. Then the action picks up and i feel like Rutley becomes so overwhelmed in the action that he turns into a silly boy. He was the comedic relief for sure. 

The story consists of many side stories and I had a lot of questions while reading this story. Why's Presley's aunt with her enemies? What happened to Presley's mother? Why is Colin such a mean person?  Why is Colin trying to pick up Presley when she's already his alpha's mate? and the most important question I kept asking while reading the story: What the hell is Rutley doing now??

Return to Kadenburg had nothing special in terms of story outline and plot. Typical shifter story. It's the dynamics and relationships between the characters that makes this story special. There are so many connections with each character having their own reasoning as to their actions. The ending to the story though was absolutely phenomenal. We ride up and down a hill of emotions. Just when you think everything is going fine something else happens and there's a major cliffhanger. I think this is just something the author does because the first one was like that too. They're always a surprise though which is really good because cliffhangers should be surprises. I'm not saying I like cliffhangers but they are effective in making you anticipate the next installment so you can figure out what happens. 

I think if you're a fan of shifter or paranormal romance stories and you're looking for a good book to read by all means give this a shot. I don't think it's remarkably unique though. Just a good story with it's own take on shfiters.

BORROW

Blog tour Information

Buy Links:

Amazon  /  iTunes  /  Barnes & Noble</ a>

Synopsis:

     With four missing persons and witnesses who refuse to talk, Kadenburg’s sheriff finds himself in a bind on what to do.  Swallowing his pride and biting the figurative bullet, he calls for back-up.  His son, 29 year old Rutley Holter hesitantly returns to town to rejoin the family business; hunting werewolves.</ o:p>

     Rutley never intended to return to Kadenburg, but it soon becomes personal when he discovers his best friend was murdered by the sniveling mutts his father believes to be responsible for the disappearance of Lorcan Bamey, Presley Goult, Greg Kress, and Dimitri Fridolf.

   While searching for familiar faces, Rutley has a chance encounter, and consciously rescues, the one thing he was raised to kill; Dimitri the werewolf.  It isn’t long before he begins to experience an inner battle of loyalty and the line between right and wrong start to blur.

     Being threatened by Breslin Connor is the least of Lorcan and Presley’s worries.  As they struggle to find normalcy in an incredibly extraordinary town, they will come face to face with demons from their pasts and ponder over an uncertain future.  Will their love for one another truly conquer all?

     New characters and adventures will emerge in book 2 of the Kadenburg Shifters Series.  Prepare yourself for laughter, tears, and nail-biting suspense as you re-enter the most magical little town in Tennessee. 

     Welcome back.

Trailer:

Teasers:

Giveaway:

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[MOVIE REVIEW] Divergent by Veronica Roth

So fellow initiates, as I'm sure you're aware Divergent THE MOVIE was released today (or if you didn't, now you do know) and if you know me you know how big of a fan I am of the series so I HAD to watch it on release date. It also helped that I have Friday's off. 

Anyway the movie was two and a half hours of pure dystopia fun. It was amazing but there was still a lot that bugged me. 

The movie relies too much on the audience having to read the books prior (haha get it 'Prior') to watching the movie which makes for a good movie for the readers but a confusing movie for those new to the series.

First, most of the characters weren't introduced in the movie. In fact I'm sure if I didn't read the books I wouldn't know 80% of the character's by name but rather by their personality. "Oh look the guy who almost killed Tris" or "The guy Miles Teller plays who's always mean to Tris and keeps getting a lot of screen time" or my fave "That girl who was cast to beat people up and gets most of the speaking roles when they need 'some person' to talk"

It's not like these characters were written out of the story, no they're still there. For instance, you see Edward's name on the scoreboard. For readers, you'll know the importance of Edward and his pivotal scenes in Divergent and the sequels. I don't know who plays Edward and he most definitely didn't get any face time during the movie. There's also Uriah. One of Tris' only close NON-TRANSFER friends isn't mentioned at all. (I have a sneaky suspicion who Uriah was but there was no name to confirm this of course). 

Missing characters also leads to missing scenes. Edward's butter knife scene was written out. A lot of scenes were also shortened. Most of the simulations were shortened: Tris' first simulation test before her choosing, the test fear landscape they were suppose to go through on the first day of the last trial and Tris' full fear landscapes (we weren't shown seven!). The only one they showed the entire fear landscape for was Four, but I think that was mainly because you had to know why he was called Four...

For the most part the movie stayed true to the book. The plot line still flowed in the same order, there were just a lot cut out. 

Lots of things were also NOT explained, again relying too much on the audience having to read the book. Why did Tris get her tattoo? That was one of the most touching scenes in my opinion and it was completely played down. 

Some of the things in the book were also, for lack of a better term, "dumbed-down." The factionless were only defined as "those that don't belong in any of the factions"when in reality it takes a lot more than 'not belonging' to become a factionless. 

The key message believed by all citizens is "Faction before blood" and that was completely downplayed. The most conflicting part of the choosing ceremony was the notion of loyalty. Do you stay loyal to your family - blood - or do you stay loyal to yourself - faction. In the book, defects, those that change from their original factions, are frowned upon. Whereas in the movie there's this idea of "choice." Respect someone's choice, let them choose what they want. I find that makes the story seem less dystopic in nature; if that makes sense. Dystopia lit is all about a government forcing you to do something, how citizens have to conform lest they be removed. And the choosing ceremony is only one of the ways the government makes people make the challenging decision of conforming or rebelling and following their free will. Reminding them that they have a choice sort of contradicts that, in my opinion that is. 

Overall most of the character's motives are unclear. There's not a very well developed background story or justification behind some of the major actions taken.

On a last note, the ending of the battle was changed...and I'm really not sure how the series will continue and stay true to the book. (Where's the hard drive???)

Even after all that ranting thought, I can say that Divergent was an excellent movie with top notch actors. I would definitely read the books if you haven't already, even if you're not planning on watching the movie because the books are absolutely amazing!

PS did anyone catch the Veronica Roth cameo???

For my reviews of Insurgent and Allegiant click below:
Insurgent 
Allegiant

[COVER REVEAL] Return to Kadenburg by T.E. Ridener

I'll be taking a part in the Blog Tour for Return to Kadenburg so without further ado the first step in a blog tour, the cover reveal!

Title: Return to Kadenburg (The Kadenburg Shifters Series #2)

Author: T.E. Ridener

Publication Date: March 15^th

Synopsis:

     With four missing persons and witnesses who refuse to talk, Kadenburg’s sheriff finds himself in a bind on what to do.  Swallowing his pride and biting the figurative bullet, he calls for back-up.  His son, 29 year old Rutley Holter hesitantly returns to town to rejoin the family business; hunting werewolves.

     Rutley never intended to return to Kadenburg, but it soon becomes personal when he discovers his best friend was murdered by the sniveling mutts his father believes to be responsible for the disappearance of Lorcan Bamey, Presley Goult, Greg Kress, and Dimitri Fridolf.

   While searching for familiar faces, Rutley has a chance encounter, and consciously rescues, the one thing he was raised to kill; Dimitri the werewolf.  It isn’t long before he begins to experience an inner battle of loyalty and the line between right and wrong start to blur.

     Being threatened by Breslin Connor is the least of Lorcan and Presley’s worries.  As they struggle to find normalcy in an incredibly extraordinary town, they will come face to face with demons from their pasts and ponder over an uncertain future.  Will their love for one another truly conquer all?

     New characters and adventures will emerge in book 2 of the Kadenburg Shifters Series.  Prepare yourself for laughter, tears, and nail-biting suspense as you re-enter the most magical little town in Tennessee. 

     Welcome back.

If you want to  start the series from the beginning (like me) feel free to check out the first book in the series.

Buy Book 1- The Truth About Kadenburg

Amazon  /  Barnes and Noble   /  Goodreads

About the Author:

T.E. Ridener resides in the small community of Gray, Kentucky with her equally eccentric yet amazingly interesting family. Miss Ridener has written a handful of novels as well as various short stories during her career as a writer. When she is not writing, she enjoys listening to nearly every genre of music, watching movies, and spending time with her niece and nephew. Her greatest accomplishment to date has been The Blood Betrayal Series, with characters she dreamed up while she was still a teenager. She believes that the Blood Betrayal Series will go far one day, despite the overrating of vampires in the past few years. According to her, vampires will -never- go out of style even if their fashion choices do!

Social Links:

Facebook / Amazon Author Page / Goodreads / Twitter / Author Website

[Blog Tour + REVIEW] Escaping Destiny by Amelia Hutchins

Escaping Destiny by Amelia Hutchins
Published: Feb 2014
Age Group: Adult - 18A Warning
Series: The Fae Chronicles

The third and latest release in the Fae chronicles. I've anxiously (and impatiently) waited for this release especially after the cliff hanger ending of the second novel. Well it was worth the wait, in some parts, and then anti climactic in others.

I'll start out by saying this is still a really good book. Amelia Hutchins has a way of writing or at least a style that I enjoy and appreciate. The same old characters return, each bringing their own attitudes, charisma and appeal. Boy did I miss them.

I guess I'm sort of conflicted about this. I feel like I have a responsibility, an obligation to praise this book to the moon and back but I really don't feel like this book deserves it.

We end book 2 on a really high note. The story was picking up pace and it was at the height of the crescendo, like all cliff hangers, that we're left hanging and wanting more. And so I waited (and I'm sure many others waited as well) finding ways to twiddle our thumbs and keep busy until this one was released. As soon as I could get a copy I started to devour it. It was good, picked up right where the crescendo peak was - and then I was so abruptly brought down. What was revealed in the first couple chapters of Escaping Destiny seemed to make the later half of Taunting Destiny to be completely moot. Yes, we were introduced to the overall family background of Syn and Adam but the main climax, the heart of the problem, was crushed and essentially kicked aside. How does something still exist if it's heart's been destroyed? Well unless you have two hearts it's not possible. And that's my feelings towards this story. It just felt like we took 3 steps forward and 2 steps back and we end up back to the start but with different players in this game.

Now for the rest of the story. Syn's pregnant. And she knows - now. And so start the dramatic hormone invasions and constant arguments, tears, paranoia, and jealously that ensues. I'll let you in on a secret though: I kind of like hormonal Syn. Syn seems at times to be indifferent to Ryder's actions and keeps everything inside of her, which isn't good. That's why there's yoga and stress relieving balls and therapists. Keeping things inside of you can make you go crazy! And I would prefer if Syn didn't go crazy thank you very much. So now Syn is turning into an emotional woman which is also great because it makes Ryder really confused. Like I said, Syn doesn't usually share emotions and now she's constantly showing them which makes sense as to why Ryder is lost and doesn't know what to do. It's funny in a way that my favourite series all of a sudden turned into a soap opera or comedic drama. I laughed quite a few times with their arguments and disputes.

Something else offsetting about this installment is that it felt like there was some sequence of actions that the story followed. The Fae chronicles consists of big books. These are 400-500 page books and I've always enjoyed the constant action and continuity that encompasses the first and second book. The third book lacked that. I found it to be quite monotonous at times and I found myself disengaged from the story because I felt like I had already read a scene a couple of chapters before or that the plot line didn't seem to be advancing as fast as the other two creating a lack of continuity.

On an ending note, I do like where the story is headed. A great battle is coming and I can't wait to see how some characters play their part. I'm going to say that perhaps this is the middle book and so suffers in comparison to the rest of the series...that seems like a plausible reason.

If you haven't read Fighting Destiny yet and you're a fan of paranormal romance and a strong butt-kicking heroine, PLEASE GO AND READ IT!

MEH

Click the title for my reviews of Taunting Destiny.

Blog Tour Information:

Blurb

I thought things couldn't get worse. I was wrong.

I found out what I really wanted and was forced to give him up. Just as I found out who I really am, I was presented to the elusive Horde King as a gift.

This was the mystical being I was hidden from for more than twenty years.

Although Ryder promised to save me, I couldn't let him get near this creature, so I willingly (sort of) signed myself over to be his new plaything.

Now in the Horde Realm, nothing is going remotely like I thought it would.

My powers and emotions are on the fritz, and each day seems to bring surprises that I am not sure how to deal with.

The Horde King thinks he has me exactly where he wants me.

He thinks he has taken all of my options away.

I still have choices.

Embracing what destiny has planned for me, or escaping it.

Goodreads

Buy Links

Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

About the Author

Amelia lives in the great Pacific Northeast with her family. When not writing she can be found on her page Erotica Book Club, where she help's other indie authors meet fans. She's an avid reader of everything paranormal.

Connect With the Author

Website: http://amelia-hutchins.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmeliaAuthor

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/AuthorAmeliaHutchins

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