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VBB Weekly – 03.16.2015

Highlights

MMA Author Interviews + Excerpts – Two-part feature with USA Today HEA blog! I interview six bestselling authors on the top of sexy, suspenseful MMA novels, including Lori Foster, Katy Evans, Kendall Ryan, LP Dover, JB Salsbury and Gina L. Maxwell. Plus, I also have excerpts from their novels. Read: Interview | Excerpts.

Asa Chapter 1 Reveal – Check out this two-part reveal of all of Chapter 1 from Asa by Jay Crownover (the final book of the Marked Men series). Read Chapter 1: Part 1 | Part 2.

Style Me Saturday: Alex and Ani – This week I featured one of my other obsessions… Alex and Ani bangles! Get up to speed on these delightful bracelets and learn how to best build your collection and style them.

Must Read of the Week

You guys, this week I finished Sea of Stars by Amy A. Bartol and I LOVED IT SO MUCH! This is the second book in the urban fantasy Kricket series and it will be out March 31st. In the first book, Under Different Stars, we meet Kricket Holowell, a girl who grew up in the foster care system in Chicago. She had to be tough and independent under her childhood’s harsh circumstances. When a trio of mysterious men whisk her away to a new world, divulging the truth of her existence, Kricket embarks on an adventure where houses (lands) battle, secrets hold power, and where she wields magic that promises to either help them survive, or be the weapon some intend for her to be. In the process, she falls for the enigmatic Trey Allairis, who is intrigued by Kricket’s strength, beauty and tenacity. Sea of Stars picks up where Under Different Stars leaves off and it’s packed with lots of action and lots of romance. Amy once again does an amazing job of keeping you addicted, hanging on every word. It’s simply fantastic and I highly recommend you pre-order and if you’re new to the series, give these books a try. You won’t regret it!

The final book in the trilogy is called Darken The Stars and will likely be out this summer.

Best Chills

contradiction of solitude cover I absolutely love psychological thrillers. Suspenseful, chilling, haunting… I love them. Devour them. And let me tell you that I was so impressed with A. Meredith Walter’s foray into this genre. The writing was lyrical, poignant and I was immediately engrossed in the dark, intense nature of the story. I’ve heard that a lot of readers have gone into this book thinking it was a romance and thus their experience was not what they expected… and it definitely is NOT a romance despite it having elements of love within it. But if you jump in and expect the unexpected, taking in the story as it unfurls and letting it draw you in to it’s twisted center, you will so enjoy it!

This standalone novel gave me the best chills this week and I highly recommend you go for it when you’re in the mood for a dark read that will take you for a ride.

Get the book | Read my review | Explore more suspense stories

Synopsis:

You may notice me, but you will never know me.
I prefer it that way.
I am the daughter of a monster.
Born from blood and lies.
Dead before I have truly lived.
But Elian tells me that I’m different.
He tells me that I’m beautiful.
That I’m an enigma wrapped in irresistibly complicated skin.
Elian says that he loves me.
These words terrify me.
I can’t trust love.
Or hope.
Or truth.
Because I fear the beast inside.
It threatens to drown Elian and his sweet, unconditional love.
It’s a beast that will destroy everything.

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Release Recap

(Click cover to order)

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Releasing This Week

Pocketful of Sand by M. Leighton (Available Now)

“She’s beauty for my ashes. And I’m hope for her heartache.”—Cole Danzer.

I don’t know what makes a great love story. Is it that instant attraction when boy meets girl? The passionate kisses and the fairy-tale ending? Or is it a lifetime of tragedy, paid in advance, for a few stolen moments of pure bliss? The pain and the suffering that, in the end, you can say are worth it for having found the missing piece of your soul?

The answer is: I don’t know. I don’t know what makes a great love story. I only know what makes my love story. I only know that finding Cole when I did, when Emmy and I were running from a nightmare, was the only thing that saved me. That saved us. He was more broken than I was, but somehow we took each other’s shattered pieces and made a whole. If that is what makes a great love story, if that is what makes an epic romance, then mine…ours is the greatest of them all.

Standalone romance.

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Naughty King (A Sexy Manhattan Fairytale: Part One) by Michelle A. Valentine (Available Now) – 99¢

The King Always Gets His Way.

Women, business, pleasure: When I want it, I get it.
I’m never denied.
Including her.
I will break her.
I will show her who the king of this city really is.
The Feisty Princess of Manhattan will learn I am not a man that can be tempted.
No matter how damn bad I want her in my bed.

Book one in a three part erotic romance series.

Reading Order: Naughty King | Feisty Princess | Dirty Royals

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Cement Heart by Beth Ehemann (Available Now)

Lawrence Finkle, known simply to his die-hard Minnesota Wild fans as Viper, isn’t used to hearing the word “no.” He lives his whole life just a little on the reckless side. After all, life is just one big game, right?

Wrong.

When what was supposed to be an innocent bet goes horribly wrong, he’s left to deal with the aftermath—and the guilt. In an effort to make things right the best way he can, he ends up falling for the one person on the planet he never should have.

The old saying goes that two wrongs don’t make a right . . . or do they?

Standalone romance.

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Soaring (#2, Magdalene) by Kristen Ashley (Available Now)
★ VBB Recommendation ★

American heiress Amelia Hathaway needs to start anew.Her husband cheated on her, and when everything she wanted in life slipped through her fingers, she fell apart. When she did, she took another heart wrenching hit as she lost the respect of her children.

When her ex took her family from California to live in the small town of Magdalene in Maine, Amelia decided it was time to sort herself out. In order to do that and win her children back, she moves to Cliff Blue, an architectural masterpiece on the rocky coast of Magdalene.

Her boxes aren’t even unpacked when she meets Mickey Donovan, a man who lives across the street, a man so beautiful Amelia takes one look at Mickey and knows she wants it all from him.

The problem is, she finds out swiftly that he’s friendly, he’s kind, but he doesn’t want everything back.

Amelia struggles to right past wrongs in her life at the same time find out who she wants to be. She also struggles with her attraction to the handsome firefighter who lives across the street.

But Amelia will face a surprise when her friendly neighbor becomes not-so-friendly. As Amelia and Mickey go head to head, Amelia must focus on winning back the hearts of her children.

She soon discovers she also must focus on winning the heart of a handsome firefighter who understands down to his soul the beautiful heiress who lives across the street is used to a life he cannot provide.

Part of a series, but can be read as standalone.

Reading Order: The Will (Review) 99¢ | Soaring (Review)

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Indisputable by A.M. Wilson (Available Now)

Eighteen year old Tatum Krause wants nothing more than to finish her senior year without any more drama. After the near overdose of her drug abusing mother the previous year, she moved out in the hopes of making something better for herself. However, the week before her final year, she ends up needing the help of a sexy stranger who’s about to flip her world on its axis.

Jacoby Ryan only wants one thing: to forget his past. The last two years have been filled with empty feelings and women in an attempt to stem the heartache and guilt. He’s ghosted blindly through the motions until late one night, he finds a car stalled on the side of an empty highway where he meets a beautiful girl with a haunted look in her eyes.

She has a secret, but so does he. Despite their magnetic pull, the two come to the shocking revelation their relationship isn’t so black and white. Is it possible to fight a bone-deep attraction when the entire universe is telling you it’s wrong?

Standalone novel.

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Reckless Love by Kendall Ryan (Mar 17) – 99¢

One reckless fighter.

One night of passion she can’t forget.

The battle between sex and love is fierce and unrelenting.

And love is about to knock him on his ass.

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Cage fighting always came first for him…

Ian’s life is full of sacrifice. His intense training schedule means brutal workouts, no drinking, and worst of all, no pussy. But it’s all worth it because he’s about to go pro. When a tempting young nurse starts working at his gym, he can’t escape the dirty desires clouding his mind, and it’s driving him crazy. He’d love a taste, but he needs his focus now more than ever.
She’s kept her heart on maximum-security lockdown…

Growing up in foster care, MacKenzie learned early on that love was something other people experienced, something she’d seen but never felt. When she meets sexy cage fighter, Ian, she expects nothing more than a one-night stand, but he walks away before they seal the deal. Now she’d like to forget the night they almost hooked up. But she’s just taken a job working at his gym, and despite her efforts to move on, his allure is overpowering. When Ian gets injured, they begin working together on his rehabilitation, and their one-on-one physical therapy sessions are so hot they sizzle, leaving them both desperate for more contact.

The battle for their love is about to become a fight to the finish.

Standalone novel and companion to Hard to Love.

Reading Order: Hard to Love | Reckless Love

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Leaving Amarillo by Caisey Quinn (Mar 17)

Nashville meets New Adult in Neon Dreams, a dramatic, sexy series from bestselling author Caisey Quinn, about a country band’s rocky road to fame—and the ambition, dreams, and love of the people who make the music.

Dixie Lark hasn’t had it easy. She lost her parents in an accident when she was young and grew up in a ramshackle house on a dirt road in Amarillo with her ailing grandparents and overprotective older brother. Thanks to her grandfather, Dixie learned to play a mean fiddle, inspired by the sounds of the greats—Johnny and June, Waylon, and Hank. Her grandfather’s fiddle changed Dixie’s life forever, giving her an outlet for the turmoil of her broken heart and inspiring a daring dream.

Ten years later, Dixie and her brother Dallas are creating the music they love and chasing fame with their hot band, Leaving Amarillo. But Dixie isn’t enjoying the ride. All she can think about is Gavin, the band’s tattooed, tortured drummer who she’s loved since they were kids. She knows he feels the connection between them, but he refuses see her as more than his best friend’s little sister.

Convinced that one night with Gavin will get him out of her system, Dixie devises a plan. She doesn’t know that her brother has forbidden Gavin from making a move on her-a promise he swore he’d always keep . . . a promise that once broken will unexpectedly change the future for Dixie, Gavin and the band.

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Coda (#9, Submission) by CD Reiss (Mar 18)

Did you want a pat little ending about Jonathan and I riding off into the sunset? Did you want flowers and stars? Man, I wish it was all soft filters and violins. I wish we could fight about who cleaned the bathroom or who was cooking dinner. But I knew I was never destined for simple contentment.

I almost committed murder for him. I almost tore us apart to save him. How do you get back on the horse after that? Because, I promise you, nothing is the same. Nothing.

I’ve earned our happily ever after. Now I have to survive it.

Epilogue to Submission Series.

Reading Order: Books 1 -8 (set) | Coda

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Consolation (#1, Consolation Duet) by Corinne Michaels (Mar 18)

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.

First book in the Consolation Duet.

Reading Order: Consolation | Conviction

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The Secret (#3, Irin Chronicles) by Elizabeth Hunter (Mar 19)

Only when the darkness falls can you see the light of the stars.

For thousands of years, the scribes and singers of the Irin race have existed to protect humanity and guard the gifts of the Forgiven. They have lived in the shadows. They have kept their secrets.

But the Irin aren’t the only race with secrets.

Ava and Malachi have found each other, but wounds as deep as theirs don’t heal overnight. While the Irin world struggles to correct the power imbalance left by the Rending of the Irina, Malachi and Ava struggle to connect their past with their present.

The Fallen may scheme, but Ava has found her power and refuses to be an angel’s pawn. And while Malachi may have forgotten his history, the scribe’s relentless search for answers leads both him and his mate to the heart of the Irin power structure in Vienna, where knowledge is guarded more closely than gold and those with power will do anything to keep it.

Malachi and Ava have survived the darkness, but will they ever discover its secrets? A powerful cabal of the Fallen may hold the answers, but to surrender them, it wants the Irin race to finally face their enemies. Both those coming from the outside, and those raging within.

THE SECRET is the third book in the contemporary fantasy series, the Irin Chronicles, and the conclusion of Ava and Malachi’s journey

Reading Order: The Scribe 99¢ | The Singer | The Secret

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