31 May 2015

Tour & Review: Getting Played


Getting Played
by Mia Storm



RELEASE DAY: MAY 28, 2015

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Rules of the game:
1) Never underestimate your opponent
2) Avoid personal fouls
3) Score early and often
4) Play or get played

Coach Marcus Leon has always played by the rules…until he meets Addaline Grace, the seventeen-year-old senior transfer on his Oak Crest High water polo team. Addie changes all the rules, mostly because she doesn’t play any games. But as off limits as she is, the more Marcus discovers about Addie, the more he finds himself…and the more he questions whether Addie Grace might just be worth risking everything for.

For Addie, water polo is anger management. She’s driven and focused because it keeps her mind off other things…like the fact she destroyed her family. Her game plan is to keep her head down and graduate so she can leave her father and the crappy town he dragged her to in her wake. But when what starts as friendly completion with Marcus turns into more than a game, Addie has to decided if she’s willing to face down her demons…and possibly ruin the man she may or may not be falling in love with in the process.

What happens when the only thing you need is the one thing you can’t have?



Buy Links:

Amazon * B&NKobo * iBooks


I received a copy in exchange for an honest review!

What I say: The thing I find with teacher-student romances is that they can either work well and be believable (I loved the concept in When Summer Ends) or be purely about forbidden smut (hey if that's your thing then I'm all for it). I have to admit I was expecting Getting Played to fall into the latter category (I think because of the title) but what I got was a far more interesting take on the teacher-student relationship. 

I hadn't read Playing Dirty the previous book in this standalone series but Mia Storm does a good job in catching her readers up to past events and I didn't have any problems picking up with the story. The narrative this time focuses on new teacher and current water polo coach Marcus (Blaire's brother from Playing Dirty) and transfer student Addie. If you've read the first book then you'll remember that Blaire fell for an older teacher, which lead to a lot of problems and that Marcus really didn't approve.

I liked Addie who was smoothing of an old soul. For a not quite 18-year-old girl she was mature and level headed (mostly). A lot of the time I would have thought Marcus was the younger character. Addie's been through a lot and keeps her secret very closely guarded but Marcus slowly starts to help her to open up.

I liked Marcus although I have too say that he was a lot more willingly to risk his career than I would have expected considering his position and the difficulties he had coming to terms with Blaire's choices. That being said I did like him and appreciated the unrest he took in Addie's well being.  

The controversial topic won't be easily acceptable for some readers but if you're worried it's all about graphic sex, details and the forbidden then rest assured there's a lot more going on and the book is definitely not big on those kind of details. I enjoyed Marcus's and Addie's story and was pleased with how the book ended. I would have liked a few more details about a certain mean girl though... 

3.5 - 4 Stars in my Sky!

Excerpt:

His spicy scent wraps me in a cocoon of bliss and I stop thinking. I know this because when a shard of coherent thought pierces the bubble, I find my lips are on his. I don’t even know how they got there. Not only that, but I have a death grip around his neck. In my shock, the reflex is to let him go…but then I realize he’s kissing me back. His kiss feels like liquid fire burning through me. A low moan vibrates between us, and somewhere in the back of my mind I know it’s mine. The rumble deep in his chest that answers my moan feeds my hunger for him.
One of his hands grips my arm hard, just below my shoulder. But it’s the other one that has my attention, sliding slowly down my hip until it rests on my ass. He drags me over him so I’m straddling his lap as he tilts his head and deepens our kiss, and the hard bulge in his swim trunks presses against sensitive spot between my legs. I feel him from the tingle in my scalp to the curl of my toes. And when he moans into my mouth, the sound vibrates my bones.
I lose myself in the feeling of his hot, hard body pressed up the front of mine; his dark scruff scratching my face; his wet, warm tongue invading my mouth and taking possession of me; the frenetic beat of our hearts, each matching the other’s.
Time stops. There’s this excruciatingly intense moment where we exist in a vacuum, just Marcus and me. My senses dull and sharpen at the same time as the world fades out and everything Marcus is doing to me is amplified by the electricity flowing between us.
I totally lose myself in the flood of sensations I’ve never experienced before. When I come to my senses a few seconds later, Marcus has set me on the cement and is staggering to his feet, his eyes wide and his head shaking an adamant no. But the bulge in the front of his swim trunks puts the lie to the denial in is body language.
“I was…that was…” He bumps into the starting block and it seems to jar him back to his senses. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”
I gain my feet. “It’s okay.”
God. I’m a moron. It was so much more than okay.
He must see something in my eyes, because his soften again. “Addie…” He trails off with a slow shake of his head before taking a deep breath and starting again. “You are this incredible…” He trails off again and swallows. “…girl. You’re a girl. I have to keep reminding myself of that, because every time I look at you I see this gorgeous, sexy, amazing woman.”


Dirty
A poem by Blaire Leon




If sex is dirty, why would I do it with someone I love?


If sex is dirty, then didn’t we all come from the dirt?
What if I like the dirt?
What if I want to get dirty?


What if I want to roll in the mud until I’m so
f**king filthy that I’ll never be clean again?


When twenty-five-year-old graduate assistant Caiden Brenner
asked Blaire Leon how old she was, she said she was a senior. He chose to
believe she meant in college. They connect over Lord Byron’s Don
Juan
 and, as their conversations become increasingly thicker with
sexual innuendo, Caiden finds himself obsessing over a totally off-limits
undergrad who’s bold, beautiful, brilliant, and one of the most passionate
poets he’s ever met.

But it turns out Blaire hasn't been totally honest. She's the
seventeen-year-old valedictorian of her high school class, taking courses at
Sierra State while awaiting her acceptance to Stanford.

Will Caiden get too deeply into Blaire to back away before he
finds out the truth? Or will their connection be enough to seduce him into
risking his entire future on Jail Bait?


Author Spotlight:



Mia Storm is a hopeless romantic who is always searching for
her happy ending. Sometimes she’s forced to make one up. When that happens,
she’s thrilled to be able to share those stories with her readers. She lives in
California and spends much of her time in the sun with a book in one hand and a
mug of black coffee in the other, or hiking the trails in Yosemite. Connect
with her online at MiaStormAuthor.blogspot.com , on Twitter at @MiaStormAuthor,
and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MiaStormAuthor



LIKE MIA STORM on FACEBOOK


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30 May 2015

The Beautiful One - Review

The Beautiful One - The Scandalous Sisters #1
by Emily Greenwood





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What they say: “A SIZZLING ROMANCE THAT TOUCHES THE HEART.” —Sally MacKenzie, USA Today bestselling author


A PICTURE SAYS A THOUSAND WORDS…
The ton is buzzing about The Beautiful One, a striking figure in a scandalous book of nude sketches. Only two men know the true identity of The Beautiful One, and they are scouring the countryside, determined to find her.



BUT NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES
The unlikely center of the scandal, Anna Black is forced to flee home as disaster looms. Her tomboy’s heart and impertinent tongue serve her well when she meets the most brooding viscount ever to darken a drawing room. Will Halifax, Viscount Grandville, has his reasons for pushing people away, and when his tempestuous teenaged ward arrives on his doorstep, he presses Anna to take on her care. As Anna begins to melt the Viscount’s frozen heart, she knows the more she loves, the more she has to lose. For although Will cares nothing for what makes Society titter, he has yet to see The Beautiful One.


Releasing 1st June by Sourcebooks Casablanca - ISBN: 9781492613657


Pre-order:

Amazon US * Amazon UK


I received a copy from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review!


What I say: If you're looking for a fun historical story then you'll most likely enjoy Emily Greenwood's The Beautiful One. The story focuses on Anna Black and Will Halifax (Viscount Grandville). They are two people who are trying to hide. Anna is fleeing from potential scandal and Will is hiding from society, whilst not dealing with his grief after a tragic loss.


Anna is the unwilling subject of a series of naughty drawings, facing potential ruin if her name is revealed. She finds herself working as the guardian for Will's young ward, Elizabeth. She sets herself the task of getting them to bond with each other.


I really liked Anna who had a fairly modern attitude for a young woman of her time and circumstance. I found Will's brooding manner quite entertaining and he never failed to make me smile. I liked them together and wanted Anna to figure out where her HEA was.

There were a couple of incidents that seemed a little convenient at times, but in terms of historical fiction I would happily let them slide. It would have been nice to have seen a little longer ending because I really wanted to know what happened next.

The secondary characters including Lizzie, Will's brother and stepmother were fun additions to the book. I'm hoping Lizzie gets her own book.


3.5 - 4 Stars in my Sky!



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29 May 2015

New Release, Excerpt & Giveaway - Conviction


Liam and Natalie’s return in Conviction by Corinne Michaels!


Find out how their story continues….





NOW AVAILABLE







Book Two in the Consolation Duet

I fell in love with Liam only to be left shattered into a million pieces. Again. The idea of being without him cripples me but the reality is, he’s gone.

He doesn’t understand and I can’t make him.

If only he’d see the conviction behind my words—then he’d still be here.



Excerpt:

His voice is thick and husky as he refuses to break from my eyes. “Tell me you’re real.”
“I’m real.”
“Tell me you’re really here.”
“I’m here with you.” My hand rises, and I press my thumb to his lips. “I’m here for you. I’m here with only you. I need you so much.”
His eyes close as I rub my thumb, savoring the rough feel on my skin.
“Stay with me,” he pleads.
Liam’s hands rest on each side of my face as I drag him down further. “There’s nowhere else I want to be.” Our lips meet, and I lose myself.  





Consolation (Book One):







Liam wasn’t supposed to be my happily ever after.
He wasn’t even on my radar.
He was my husband’s best friend—forbidden.

But my husband is dead and I’m alone. I ache for him and I reach for Liam.

One night with Liam changed everything. Now I have to decide if I truly love him or if he’s just the consolation prize.


Author Spotlight:



Corinne Michaels is an emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun loving mom of two beautiful children. She’s happily married to the man of her dreams and is a former Navy wife. After spending months away from her husband while he was deployed, reading and writing was her escape from the loneliness.

Both her maternal and paternal grandmothers were librarians, which only intensified her love of reading. After years of writing short stories, she couldn’t ignore the call to finish her debut novel, Beloved. Her alpha Navy SEALs are broken, beautiful, and will steal your heart.




Giveaway: 
($100 Amazon Gift Card)




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