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Showing posts from April, 2018

Release Blitz: Medley by Layla Reyne

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Medley (Changing Lanes #2) by Layla Reyne Release Date: April 30, 2018 About Medley Sebastian Stewart was never Mr. Dependable; he was more the good-time guy who only wanted to swim, party, and ink tattoos. Until he cost his team the Olympic gold four years ago. Bas is determined to do right this time around—by his medley relay team and his rookie mentee. Jacob Burrows is in over his head. The Olympic experience—from the hazing, to the endless practices, to the unrelenting media—makes the shy nineteen-year-old’s head spin. He’s trying to be everything to everyone while trying not to fall for his gorgeous tattooed teammate who just gets him—gets his need to fix things, his dorky pirate quips, and his bisexuality. When Jacob falters under the stress, threatening his individual races and the medley relay gold, he needs Bas’s help to escape from drowning. Bas, however, fearing a repeat of his mistakes four years ago, pushes Jacob away, sure he’ll only let Jacob down.

Review: Medley by Layla Reyne (Changing Lanes #2)

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Note: This ARC was originally provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review prior to the author reclaiming their rights to the title.   Here's the thing when the first book in a series blows you away: expectations for the second book become undoubtedly (and maybe unfairly) high. And when the author happens to be a go-to favorite who's always surpassed any and all expectations? Well, the bar is exponentially raised. That was the case with Layla Reyne's second novel in her Changing Lanes sports romance series. Relay earned a spot on my year-end list of top favorites with its angsty second-chance love story that had bites of humor to it alongside a strong sports element interspersed with the romance. Alex Cantu and Dane Ellis also make up one of my favorite couples in the sub-genre, and that's saying a lot. Then there were supporting characters Bas Stewart and Jacob Burrows, who shared a strong connection in this first book and who I knew would be get

Release Day: Life of Bliss by Erin McLellan

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Life of Bliss (Love Life #2) by Erin McLellan Release Date: April 30, 2018 About Life of Bliss Nobody plans to accidentally marry their frenemy-with-benefits. Todd McGower and Victor Consuelos do not like each other. They can’t have a conversation without insults flying, and Victor seems to get off on pushing Todd’s buttons. The fact that their antagonism always leads to explosive sex . . . well, that’s their little secret.  Victor has a secret of his own. His full-blown crush on Todd is ruining his sex life. He hasn’t looked at anyone else in months, and he’s too hung up on Todd to find a date to his cousin’s wedding.  In a moment of weakness after a heart-stopping night together, Todd agrees to be Victor’s fake boyfriend for the wedding. Victor will have his plus-one—which will get his family off his back—and Todd will get a free mini-vacation. It’s a win-win. But pretending to be fake boyfriends leads to real intimacy, which leads to too much wine, and s

Review: Life of Bliss by Erin McLellan (Love Life #2)

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Note: This ARC was originally provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review prior to the author reclaiming their rights to the title.   After I had finished reading Life on Pause six months ago, I hoped that two supporting characters would have their own story told, and I guess this was a case of "ask and you shall receive"--and not a case of "be careful what you wish for"--because quite a few and asked, and by golly, Erin McLellan is giving us exactly what we were wishing for! Life of Bliss is the second novel in the Love Life series and it's all about frenemies Victor Consuelos and Todd McGower, Niles Longfellow's platonic soul mate and Rusty Adams's ex-boyfriend and best friend, respectively. This was every bit as quirky and as charming as I was expecting it to be but Victor and Todd's story had its surprises too! Victor Consuelos and Todd McGower don't like each other. Hooking up with each other, well, that's someth

Review: I Dare You by Ilsa Madden-Mills (The Hook Up #1)

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Note: This ARC was provided by the author via Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review. They say that the first person that you kiss at a party becomes the one person you end up never forgetting...or at least that's what football player Maverick Monroe told fellow freshman Delaney Shaw right before he kisses her at a bonfire. Fast forward two years later, and Delaney starts getting text messages from an unknown number. The only clues he gives her as to his identity is that he's an athlete and that they know each other. She can never say no to a dare, so not only does she dare herself to continue texting the guy, but he throws dares her way as well. There's something about him that rings familiar, but he couldn't possibly the same star football player who kissed her a couple of years ago. She isn't the type of girl Maverick would go for, plus Delaney's sworn off athletes in general and football players in particular, thanks to her football pla

Review: Fools Rush In by Lilliana Anderson (Cartwright Brothers #2)

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Note: This ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. I've been looking forward to reading Fools Rush In ever since I fell in love with the offbeat crime family that was the Cartwrights in Fool Me Twice , the first in Lilliana Anderson's Cartwright Brothers series. Well, okay, maybe not the entire Cartwright family because I certainly wasn't a fan of the matriarch, Jasmine. Also, when I call them a "crime" family, I'm not talking about the mafia or something totally nefarious. The Cartwrights are thieves and they're damn good at what they do. In the first book, we get the love story between Nate Cartwright and Holland Williams, but while we do get learn a thing or two about what the family does and some of dynamic that goes on among the five brothers and their mother, it's limited at best because of Jasmine's icy reception to Holland, plus Holland's refusal to have as little to do with her in particular and the fam

Release Blitz: Lyric by Molly McAdams

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Lyric (Rebel #1) by Molly McAdams Release Date: April 30, 2018 About Lyric New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Molly McAdams delivers the first captivating, standalone novel in her Redemption  series spin-off—the Rebel series . . .  I’m not the kind of girl you forget.   I wish I was.   I wish I was normal.   That I could blend into a crowd. Have a future with the man I’ve loved my entire life…  Maxon James understands me in a way others can’t.  For as long as I can remember, he’s vowed that one day he would claim my wild, rebel heart. God knows I wanted him to try. I wanted the life he promised me in his lyrics.  But his assurances couldn’t change the past, and the infamous mafia blood in my veins guarantees my heart can’t be claimed.  Somewhere along the way, I slipped. I let myself believe we could have it all. Now a dark, menacing shadow hovers between us, mocking us for daring to hope for a normal future.   And it’s come to c

Review: Love at Last by Melissa Foster (Braden Flirt #1)

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Note: This ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. Love at Last is part of the Love in Bloom umbrella series created by bestselling author Melissa Foster, specifically that of The Bradens - Trusty, CO  collection. It also happens to be Foster's first Braden Flirt . This is basically a story that has neither of the main characters as a member of the Braden clan. This collection of reads focus on secondary characters that have been featured in full-length novels but have amassed a following of their own with fans and readers or are simply worthy of further exploration by the author via a Braden Flirt . Because I've never read any of the other books where Cal Hayden and Rachel Gray were part of as supporting characters, I have no idea how much of their back story was mentioned before. I'm also unfamiliar with the handful of other characters that are part of this novella, and I confess that I did feel a wee bit lost because there wasn't

Release Blitz: Masc by Marshall Thornton

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Masc (Femme #2) by Marshall Thornton Date Released: April 28, 2018 About Masc Lionel and Dog are back in this follow-up to the Lambda finalist, Femme .  Almost six months have passed and, after taking an online quiz, Lionel believes their relationship is doomed because they have nothing in common. To save their relationship, the pair joins a gay bowling league and discovers that Lionel is an excellent, if somewhat eccentric bowler. Meanwhile, Dog gets profiled in a work newsletter. He's excited that he's out at work but doesn't immediately see that by fawning over Dog's masculine nature he was also putting down all femme guys. Lionel takes it personally which leads to a crisis in their relationship. Attempting to make it up to Lionel, Dog attempts to make a grand gesture which backfires spectacularly. Will the two manage to put things right? And will a night in jail, a morning of drag bingo, an afternoon of day drinking, and a month of moping