30 April 2017

HIDDEN DEPTH - Blog Tour


HIDDEN DEPTH
by Brenda Rothert





I had it all.
Breaking into the entertainment business as a teenager wasn’t easy. I spent years of my childhood traveling, auditioning and hoping my big break would come. And when I did, I rose to a level I never imagined.
Elle Tyler: model, singer and actress. I couldn’t go anywhere without security anymore. It was everything I ever wanted and more - fame, fortune and worldwide recognition. At age twenty-four, I was living a dream. 
But a single act of violence shattered my fairytale existence. In a matter of seconds, all the goodness in me was ripped to shreds. Overnight, the people around me dropped away, moving on to find the next big thing. I gave up on myself, becoming a woman so dark and forlorn I no longer recognized myself.
But the stranger who saved me that day, Justin Lockhart, never gave up on me. He still saw light through my darkness. And as we grew closer, I started to see it, too. And I also started to see that before that terrible day, maybe I didn’t really have it all. Maybe I was always missing the only thing that really matters.

Purchase:
Amazon * iBooks * Kobo * Nook







Author Spotlight:

Brenda Rothert is an Illinois native who was a print journalist for nine years. She made the jump from fact to fiction in 2013 and never looked back. From new adult to steamy contemporary romance, Brenda creates fresh characters in every story she tells. She’s a lover of Diet Coke, chocolate, lazy weekends and happily ever afters.




Excerpt:

Elle

I THOUGHT I HAD wrapped my arms around the world. Fortune and fame are the ultimate dream, right? But when an act of violence shattered all my notions, I was forced to face painful truths. It wasnt until Id lost so much that I found the one thing that really matters and the place that made anything seem possible.

ITS PERFECT, MY ASSISTANT Chloe says, grinning proudly as she tucks a loose strand of my hair into the floppy beach hat.
            Im not sure Id use that word, I say, giving her a skeptical look.
            Dont be hatin on the hat. Its a perfect disguise hat.
             Its a beach hat, and its February in St. Louis. How is this not going to draw attention?
She lowers her brows and tries to fold the sides of the hat down. You think its easy making a redhead incognito? A redhead who happens to have one of the most recognizable faces in the world?
            I roll my eyes at that. Stop. You dont need to kiss my ass.
            I know. But I saw a BuzzFeed article this morning about the most recognizable faces in the world, and you were one of them.
            My lips part with surprise. Really?
            She nods and then stands back to eye the bright pink hat. With the sunglasses, I think well be ready.
            When she breaks out a pair of black sunglasses with round lenses large enough to hide half my face, I roll my eyes. Those are the very definition of conspicuous.
            Hey, she says defensively. I did the best I could. That little souvenir shop was the only place I could find with hats.
            When I sent you out to pick up something, I was thinking like . . . a hoodie. Not Jackie O doing a flamingo impression.
            Its a short trip from the room out to our bus. Just keep your head down.
            Theres a knock on the door to my suite, and when Chloe opens it, my bodyguard Andre walks in. Ready, Elle?
            Yeah, yeah, I mutter, noticing his smirk. Laugh it up.
            Its just that its sort of a . . . loud disguise.
            Andre kind of looks like The Rock, if The Rock had gotten his nose broken lots of times in fights, and if he were covered in tattoos. Andres usually pretty quiet, and since hes only been my bodyguard for a few months, were still adjusting to each other. Im not quite comfortable firing off a comeback at him yet.
            Ill give you that, I say with a sigh.
             Ill carry that, he offers, reaching for the bag thrown over my
shoulder.
            Thanks. I hand it over, wincing a little.
            Hows the shoulder? he asks, his brows lowering with concern.
            I give him a half shrug. Its sore.
            At my concert last night, I hurt my shoulder while dancing. I just twisted it in a funny way on accident, and by the end of the performance, it was throbbing. The doctor who travels with me on tour said I have to go to the hospital for tests when we get to Chicago later today. Im not looking forward to that, and Im also not canceling the Chicago show if he suggests it.
            Youll be okay, Andre says. Youre only twenty-four, so your body heals fast.
            How old are you? I ask him.
            How old do you think I am?
            I cant believe we havent had this conversation yet. I squint as I look him over laugh lines, grayish temples, and all.
            Thirty-five?
            Thirty-eight, he says, opening the door for Chloe and me.
            Chloe is wheeling a giant suitcase behind her, and Andre insists on taking it, as well as the bag she has slung over her shoulder.
            The other bus left half an hour ago, she says. Ours is waiting.
            I nod, my mind already moving on to Chicago. Its one of my favorite places to perform. My backup dancers and other crew members ride on another bus, because I like to decompress when Im on the road. Itll just be me, Chloe, Andre, and our driver on the main bus.
            Ive come a long way from my days traveling between county fairs to perform in talent shows. At the time, I didnt even realize how rigorous a schedule it was. Now I think back and wonder if my parents were confident Id get a break, or if they thought they might be sacrificing everything only for me never to make it.





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29 April 2017

Releases This Week - It's Patrick Ness Time!

Release
by the always fab 
Patrick Ness

Sorry non-UK lovelies but Release is only out in the UK on 4th May. Elsewhere you can grab it from September 2017!

The Good news is I'll be running a #giveaway soon where you'll be able to #win a UK edition on Release.






What they say: Inspired by Mrs Dalloway and Judy Blume's Forever, Release is one day in the life of Adam Thorn, 17. It's a big day. Things go wrong. It's intense, and all the while, weirdness approaches...

Adam Thorn is having what will turn out to be the most unsettling, difficult day of his life, with relationships fracturing, a harrowing incident at work, and a showdown between this gay teen and his preacher father that changes everything. It's a day of confrontation, running, sex, love, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, hope. He won't come out of it unchanged. And all the while, lurking at the edges of the story, something extraordinary and unsettling is on a collision course. 



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Releases 4th May by Walker Books - UK only




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28 April 2017

Groupie - Tour & Review



Today is my stop for the Groupie blog tour! 

I'm excited to host Groupie and Susan Daugherty! 



Moving to a new city isn’t the magic fix Lexie Travis hoped it would be. Sure, she put some mileage between herself and her feuding parents, her miserable dating history, and the memories of a life-altering injury. However, she still feels like a former shadow of herself, hiding behind her diminished confidence and her thorough disbelief in true love.

Everything changes when Lexie’s best (and only) friend drags her to a country music concert. Lexie loves country music, but she loathes the top-selling heartthrob who sold out the arena. Jack Morgan became a sensation with a string of degrading, shallow songs that she can’t stand.

A startling trauma lands Jack in the hospital, and Lexie is the physical therapist assigned to the VIP treatment of the very man she despises.

Jack is drawn to the one woman who appears resistant to his charms and who loves to check his ego every chance she gets, yet gives him the honesty he needs. She’s the opposite of his usual groupies. He can only continue his tour if he receives rehab on the road, and Lexie is the lone person Jack trusts for the job.

Reluctantly, she agrees to take the journey on his luxury coach, joining the wild cast of characters on his crew. Yes, she was given many incentives to take the assignment, but the reason she wants to ignore is the dangerous one. Jackson Morgan is growing on her.

At every turn, another challenge pushes her away from him.

Stepping onto the tour bus is the domino that starts a chain reaction in their lives and challenges them both to change. Could they learn to believe in love and happily ever after?

*Please note: Groupie is Volume One in a two-part series

Get Your Copy Today:

Amazon

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I received a copy in exchange for an honest review!

What I say: Groupie has all the drama! I was expecting an Almost Famous vibe but Groupie is a very different story. Susan Daugherty doesn't seem to be a particular fan of groupies because main character Lexie has a pretty scathing stance about groupies (yes I know Almost Famous doesn't exactly always show groupies in the best light but it does have the whole nostalgia vibe going on which I love). Lexie is a secret groupie! 

Lexie is a physical therapist who finds herself caring for the bad boy of country music, Jack Morgan. Lexie doesn't like his recent music, seeing him as an arrogant playboy who has turned his back on proper country music to sell albums. She's pretty set on her view of him and finds her attraction to Jack really irritating. Jack is pretty taken with Lexie early on. He finds himself striving to win her over by becoming a better man.

Lexie is pretty harsh in her opinion of the rockstar lifestyle and Jack's fans. She's quick to judge, but then again she's constantly faced with desperate women and Jack's past exploits on a daily basis. I could totally see where she was coming from in this regard.

I really enjoyed all the insights into how physical therapy works (when I hurt my leg I was pretty much given crutches and told to use an exercise bike). Susan Daugherty has either done a lot of research into the subject or has personal experience of PT because her descriptions of Lexie's work are great. I could completely visualise the different treatments.

Be warned Groupie is the first part of a duo-logy. I somehow managed to miss this before reading the book so I found myself getting REALLY flipping annoyed by the ending - don't worry no spoilers here!! I honestly couldn't decide who I was more angry with out of the pair of them. I'm hoping Susan Daugherty finds a way to resolve the situation with as little drama as possible or I may have to put the book in the naughty corner!


I've noticed many other reviewers have either seemed to love Groupie or really dislike it. Although I was conflicted about certain elements and I've already made my displeasure about the ending pretty clear, for the most part I enjoyed the story - So I'm somewhere in the middle when it comes to my opinion of the book but am hoping the followup Muse will win me over.

3.5 Dramatic Stars in my Country Rocker Sky!

Author Spotlight:



Susan Daugherty is a freelance writer, and by some happy coincidence, also a licensed Physical Therapist and an APTA Board Certified Orthopedic Specialist. She is the author of the 2016 novel Groupie as well as its sequel, Muse. Her essay The Cycle of Inspiration was published in PT InMotion in April 2013. She is a member of Romance Writers of America. Raised in Kentucky, she now resides in Knoxville, Tennessee where she lives with her husband and two children.

Website * Twitter * Facebook 


Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway






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New Cover - Wardrobe Malfunction


Ooh look at the sassy newly revamped cover for Samantha Towle's Wardrobe Malfunction! 






To celebrate the shiny new cover Sam is putting Wardrobe Malfunction on sale for 99p/99c on Amazon!


You can buy WM here:




From New York Times best-selling author Samantha Towle comes a sexy and laugh-out-loud stand-alone romance…

Vaughn West is at the height of his acting career. He’s the it man of Hollywood—until the ultimate betrayal sends him into a downward spiral of alcohol-infused days, ending with a different woman in his bed every night. His only way out of the funk is accepting a new movie deal with the hottest director in Hollywood.

Charlotte Michaels is a designer-brands girl on a thrift-store budget until she lands the mother of all jobs as Vaughn West’s wardrobe assistant on his latest movie.

Only their first meeting doesn’t go as planned, and now, Vaughn is acting like a jerk.

So, why do their clothes seem to keep falling off whenever they’re around each other? And why can’t Charly seem to keep her mind in the closet and off Vaughn?

Things are about to get hot, dirty, and messy in Hollywood. Especially if Charly’s closely guarded secret falls out of her closet.





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27 April 2017

Am Reading - The Boy Most Likely To

The Boy Most Likely To
by Huntley Fitzpatrick





After really enjoying My Life Next Door I have BIG love so far for this one...



Surprises abound and sparks ignite in the highly anticipated, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To:
- find the liquor cabinet blindfolded
- need a liver transplant
- drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To:
- well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard. 

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted... but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle. 

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this return to the world of My Life Next Door is a story about failing first, trying again, and having to decide whether to risk it all once more.


More info here!


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26 April 2017

Waiting on Wednesday - Flame in the Mist

This weeks Waiting On is...


Flame in the Mist
by Renee Ahdieh






What they say: The daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has long known her place—she may be an accomplished alchemist, whose cunning rivals that of her brother Kenshin, but because she is not a boy, her future has always been out of her hands. At just seventeen years old, Mariko is promised to Minamoto Raiden, the son of the emperor's favorite consort—a political marriage that will elevate her family's standing. But en route to the imperial city of Inako, Mariko narrowly escapes a bloody ambush by a dangerous gang of bandits known as the Black Clan, who she learns has been hired to kill her before she reaches the palace.

Dressed as a peasant boy, Mariko sets out to infiltrate the ranks of the Black Clan, determined to track down the person responsible for the target on her back. But she's quickly captured and taken to the Black Clan’s secret hideout, where she meets their leader, the rebel ronin Takeda Ranmaru, and his second-in-command, his best friend Okami. Still believing her to be a boy, Ranmaru and Okami eventually warm to Mariko, impressed by her intellect and ingenuity. As Mariko gets closer to the Black Clan, she uncovers a dark history of secrets, of betrayal and murder, which will force her to question everything she's ever known.

Releasing 16th May

Pre-order:

US * UK


 

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Author Spotlight:

Twitter * Goodreads * Website


Why I'm waiting...



  1. Look at the cover!
  2. I love the concept.
  3. Mulan!?!?!



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