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☆ VBB Weekly – 06.20.2016 ☆

This week was a major book fail… It took me a whole week to read ONE book—The Darkest Magic by Morgan Rhodes—which I finally finished and LOVED! We were knee deep in remodeling and finally, the clang clang clang of construction is gone and my focus is back on track. I’m hoping to get through at least three books this week. GO ME!

So far it looks promising because late last night (on a whim) I started Paper Princess by Erin Watt, and I was done just after 2 in the morning! OMG you guys! ANGST! TENSION! It’s my latest obsession. Read it and devour!

So tell me, how many books do you guys read a week? Drop a comment on this post and let me know…

What I’m Reading

Reading Now:	Listening To:	Up Next:

Also very excited to be talking with Taylor Jenkins Reid this week in my group, the VBB Vixens! If you read and loved One True Loves, join on us on the 22nd at 7:30 p.m. CST.

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The perfect girl, the troubled boy and a secret that can shatter it all.
Available Now >

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New Reviews

Contemp Romance	Second Chance Love	Second Chance Love

The newest, sexy Boudreaux series romance from Kristen Proby!
Pre-order Now >

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New Releases

The Color of Us by Laura Ward & Christine Manzari (Available Now) – 99¢

Eighteen year old Alexis Sinclair is lost in the darkness of grief. Since the death of her sister in a car accident, she can’t find the will to get out and enjoy life again. When she’s forced to face her biggest fear and take a summer Driver’s Ed course, she’s surprised to find hope in the most unlikely person.

Liam O’Connell is trouble. He isn’t proud of his dark past, and he knows Alexis is the one girl he has no business pursuing. Doing the right thing has never been easy for him, but this time, it just might be impossible.

The perfect girl and troubled boy are all wrong for each other, but as Liam helps Alexis cope with her grief, they realize nothing has ever felt more right.

That is, until Alexis uncovers a secret about Liam that breaks her heart.

Liam knows he can’t allow the one good thing in his life to walk away without a fight, and he’s determined to convince Alexis they can find their way out of the darkness together.

Can he prove he’s worthy of her, or is some love too tainted to be saved?

Can be read as a standalone.

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Yours by Jasinda Wilder (Available Now) – My review
Top Romance Recommendation

When my husband Oliver died, my life ended. My purpose, my passion, my everything bled out with him on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Ollie was an organ donor. His eyes, his brain, his lungs, his heart…parts of my Ollie went out and saved lives.

Then his heart, beating in another man’s chest, found its way back to me, and I found myself faced with an impossible choice: hold on to the pain and beauty of the past and the memory of the man I loved, or reach for a bold new future, knowing each heartbeat will be a reminder of all I’ve lost.

* * *

I wasn’t supposed to live past thirty.

My grandfather died at forty-five. Heart failure.

My father died at thirty-eight. Heart failure.

The doctors told me my whole life that I wouldn’t see my thirty-first birthday. My heart was going to give out. It was just a matter of time: a rare blood type and an unusually large heart meant essentially zero chance of a transplant.

I proved them all wrong…by dying on my thirty-first birthday.

And then I woke up, alive, with another man’s heart inside my chest, and his widow on my conscience.

I spent my whole life preparing for death, and now I have to learn how to live. Only, as I soon discovered, living is the easy part.

Loving, and allowing myself to be loved…well, that’s a whole lot harder.

Standalone romance.

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Ramsay by Mia Sheridan (Available Now) – My review
Top Romance Recommendation

Lydia De Havilland is shocked when Brogan Ramsay suddenly reappears in her life. Several years before, Brogan was the son of her family’s gardener, and the boy she hurt and betrayed. But Brogan is no longer the quiet, sensitive boy she remembers. Now he’s a man—gorgeous, powerful . . . and seeking vengeance.

Brogan Ramsay can’t let go of the memory of Lydia tricking him cruelly, leaving his heart shattered and his family penniless. And now he’s back to destroy her family the way his was destroyed. There’s only one problem . . . the girl who wounded him so badly years ago is now a woman who still has the power to render him breathless.

Ramsay is the story of betrayal and wrath, of the strength of regret and the power of forgiveness. It is the story of the thin veil between love and hate, and how more often than not, when we seek to inflict pain on others, the heart we wound is our own.

Standalone romance.

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Say You’ll Stay by Corinne Michael (Available Now) – My review | Read an interview
Top Romance Recommendation

One word.

Stay.
It was all he had to do. Instead, he got on that bus and took my heart with him.

That was seventeen years ago.

I moved on. Marriage. Kids. White picket fence. Everything I ever wanted, but my husband betrayed me and I was left once again.

Alone, penniless, and with two boys, I had no choice but to return to Tennessee. He wasn’t supposed to be there. I should’ve been safe. However, fate has a way of stepping in.

This time around, the tables are turned. It’s my decision. Second chances do exist, but I don’t know if we can repair what’s already been broken . . .

Standalone romance.

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To See You by Rachel Blaufeld (Available Now)

What is it about this guy?
On paper, he’s one hundred percent wrong for me. His e-mails are equal parts annoying and funny.
Okay, more funny than annoying. More like refreshing. Different. Exciting.
But as I stand next to him now, he’s giving me head-to-toe tingles, and I find myself dwelling on his e-mails.

Meet smart, sexy career girl and New York snob, Charli Richards. She has everything except happiness until the day she meets Layton Griffin. It’s a random encounter on an airplane; it couldn’t mean anything, right?

Layton isn’t even remotely close to who Charli sees herself hooking up with . . . ever. Her mom and best friend agree he’s not for her, but he makes her feel something exciting, awakens her world.

But then Layton changes, going to great lengths for Charli to see him for who he really is.
Will those changes bring them closer together, or will she never be able to see him in the same way again?

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A Bird On A Windowsill by Laura Miller (Available Now)

“Who do you choose, Vannah?”

She’s standing at the door, her dark green eyes slicing open the distance between her gaze and mine. And I’m just staring back at her. And three thoughts are all that are on my mind:
I love this girl.
I love this girl.
I love this girl.
She takes a breath. I hold mine. And with that, a silent thought slips into my cadence.
I love this girl.
I love this girl.
I love this girl.
Choose me.

Choose me.

Salem and Savannah have known each other since childhood, and nearly every memory they each hold, they share together. But when Savannah tells Salem that her family is moving to South Carolina only days into their sophomore year of high school, Salem is devastated.

They vow to spend the rest of Savannah’s time in their small hometown, together, rewinding the last ten years of their young lives, until one day, Salem wakes up, and Savannah’s gone.

But that’s not the last time their paths cross. In fact, life continues to intertwine their stories, until one sunny afternoon, Salem walks into their hometown’s newspaper office and looks up to a familiar face. It’s Savannah, and she’s just the same as the last time he saw her. The only problem is, he’s not.

Based in small-town Missouri, A Bird on a Windowsill tells the story of a boy and a girl who share one past. And now, at twenty-three, having spent the last six years apart, they both must navigate the delicate line of loving and letting go, until they’re each faced with a choice that could change their future–and their story.

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Always (Spiral of Bliss) by Nina Lane (Available Now)
Recommended Romance Series

Without darkness, there can be no light.

Dean has always been Liv’s white knight. Not once has he retreated from battle. Not once has he failed to keep his wife safe. Not once has he broken his promise to slay monsters for her.

Then Dean encounters a monster he can’t destroy. A monster he can’t even face. And for the first time ever, there is nothing he can do to protect the woman who owns his heart.

The love story of Liv and Dean West that started with AROUSE and continued in ALLURE, AWAKEN, and ADORE now comes to a breathtaking conclusion as the professor and his beauty fight the battle of their lives.

Fifth book in series; must have read the other books in the Spiral of Bliss series.

Series Reading Order

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Never Ever by Sara Saedi (Jun 21)

Wylie Dalton didn’t believe in fairy tales or love at first sight.

Then she met a real-life Peter Pan.

When Wylie encounters Phinn—confident, mature, and devastatingly handsome—at a party the night before her brother goes to juvie, she can’t believe how fast she falls for him. And that’s before he shows her how to fly.

Soon Wylie and her brothers find themselves whisked away to a mysterious tropical island off the coast of New York City where nobody ages beyond seventeen and life is a constant party. Wylie’s in heaven: now her brother won’t go to jail and she can escape her over-scheduled life with all its woes and responsibilities—permanently.

But the deeper Wylie falls for Phinn, the more she begins to discover has been kept from her and her brothers. Somebody on the island has been lying to her, but the truth can’t stay hidden forever.

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Easy Kisses (Boudreaux Series) by Kristen Proby (Jun 21)
Featured Series

The Boudreaux Series. Sexy. Intriguing. Easy. Simon Danbury, an internationally sought after motivational speaker, helps women from all walks of life with love, self-esteem, dating and career building skills. Handsome, witty and wealthy, Simon seemingly has everything a man could want. But appearances can be deceiving. While Simon may have the answers for millions of women all over the world, when it comes to his own love life, he’s a giant, sexy mess. Divorced, and convinced that he’ll never love again, the very last thing he expects is one Charly Boudreaux.

Charly doesn’t want to be at this seminar in the middle of nowhere, but her sister made her go. She’s the one who has her life together. Great career, amazing family, nice home, and loyal friends. So what if she doesn’t have a man? She doesn’t need one. If she’s learned anything in her almost thirty years, it’s that men are more trouble than they’re worth. And they have a nasty habit of breaking your heart into a million tiny pieces. So she’ll sit through all of Simon’s touchy feely crap and go home and get on with her life. Except Simon isn’t really spouting crap, and when he smiles at her, the butterflies are ridiculous. Never mixing business with pleasure, Simon finds Charly, a bright spot in a universe that’s been dark for too long. But will he be able to resist her? And why would he want to?

Series Reading Order SERIES SALE

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Love Lies Beneath by Ellen Hopkins (Jun 21)

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Collateral “is at her best in this outstanding novel written in gorgeous prose…a sex-filled masterpiece of mystery and romance” (Library Journal) about a woman caught in a love affair that could be her salvation—or her undoing.

Once a widow, twice divorced, Tara is a woman with a past she prefers to keep hidden. She’s gorgeous, affluent, and content living alone in her flawless San Francisco mansion.

That is, until she meets Cavin Lattimore—the charming surgeon who sweeps her off her feet following a ski accident in Lake Tahoe. But as her recovery progresses and her love life flourishes, Tara notices some suspicious incidents—an unusual van parked outside her home, a break-in, threatening text messages, and distressing emails. She can’t help but notice the cracks in Cavin’s “perfect” persona, including the suppressed rage his conniving teenage son elicits.

Housebound and on crutches, Tara depends on Cavin—perhaps to a dangerous degree—as she juggles difficult relationships with her envious sister and best friend, her irritable brother-in-law, and her estranged mother. However perfect Tara’s life may have appeared before, new events are starting to expose what lies beneath.

Writing for the first time in prose, Ellen Hopkins unveils a brand new form that’s fresh, smoldering and emblematic of her celebrated poetic voice. Injected with a signature dose of suspense, sex, and drama, Love Lies Beneath delivers right up to its shocking and unexpected conclusion.

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Tapping Her by Max Monroe (Jun 21)

Blissful in Bora Bora…

Kline and Georgia Brooks are fresh off their wedding and ready to indulge in the honeymoon of a lifetime.

Luxurious and private, their overwater bungalow in the South Pacific is the perfect backdrop for fun, sun, and enough sexiness to necessitate a dip in the clear water to cool down.

But marriage means more, and Kline and Georgia may have to find a different way to handle the heat.

Nowhere near normal in New York…

Thatcher Kelly loves wild women, and Cassie Phillips is about as wild as they come. Put them together and they are a match made in chaos.

Bound by cat-sitting responsibilities, Cass and Thatch have to find a way to right their mistakes—and wade through the dense cloud of sexual tension that seems to suffocate the room whenever they’re together.

Will they be able to resist?

And more importantly, will Walter be okay?

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Broken Love by Jillian Dodd (Jun 21) – 99¢ pre-order

After years of crushing and many failed seduction attempts, Palmer Montlake had finally scored the sexy Cade Crawford. Both a little drunk when they got back to her place, they were frantic with need, their desire intense.
But as the night progressed, the hot-mess hookup morphed to sweet lovemaking.
The kind neither had ever experienced.

But they were destined for heartbreak.
She was his best friend’s little sister.
He was her talent agent.
And they were dating in secret.
When they got into a wicked fight and broke up, all hell broke loose.
The kind neither have recovered from.

Six years later, they still hate each other.
But the universe seems to keep throwing them together.
When they catch the bouquet and garter at a mutual friend’s wedding, sparks fly between them — their chemistry undeniable.

Will they get a second chance? Or will they be left with a broken love?

Standalone romance.

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Stay Until We Break by Mercy Brown (Jun 21)

What happens on the road stays on the road in the latest New Adult novel from the author of Loud Is How I Love You.

Twenty-one-year-old Sonia Grant, a business major, has big plans for a career in the music industry. So when she’s offered the job of tour manager for her best friend’s band, she jumps at the chance for some real life experience. When her number one crush, bassist Cole McCormack, jumps her the first night on tour, she hopes she’s in for three weeks of some hot backstage action, too. But Cole turns out to have more up his sleeve than she or anyone realized.

Nobody knows that Cole is on the road to party like a rock star one last time before quitting his dream to take a more practical job and settle down. What he hadn’t planned was to fall in love with a girl he believes is out of his league. Will Cole play out the rock star fantasy he thinks Sonia wants from him, or tell her the truth and take the chance that she’ll either break his heart or make an even bigger dream come true?

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A Measure of Love by Sophie Jackson (Jun 21)

Life in New York for ex-con Riley Moore is pretty damn good, until a call from his mother shatters the calm: his father has suffered his second heart attack in two years and is in a critical condition. Leaving everything behind, Riley flies home to Michigan for the first time in five years to support his mother and do his best to make amends with his father. He also tries not to think about Lexie Pierce, the only girl he ever truly cared about, and who broke his heart.

When they inevitably meet, memories of their love make Riley yearn to reconnect, despite the pain they both suffered. Though she’s wary, and has a secret she’s hidden from him for five years, Lexie has little willpower when it comes to Riley and she agrees. Besides, after all that has gone before, she owes it to both of them to find out if they can love each other again.

Can they both overcome their sorrow and secrets and finally share their life together?

A powerful new voice in modern romance, Sophie Jackson has crafted a passionate love story with unforgettable characters that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

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Stripped Bare by Emma Hart (Jun 21)

What do you get when you mix a bachelorette party, the queen of dating disasters, and a stripper so hot he was forged from the fires of hell? Screwed. You get screwed….

Cocky. Commanding. Powerful. Relentless.
Those four words all summed up West Rykman perfectly.
So did filthy, dirty, sexy, and addictive.
He was supposed to be my one night stand…not my new marketing client.
He was definitely not supposed to be back inside my pants, not that anybody told him that.
I knew one thing: What West Rykman wanted, West Rykman got.
And he wanted me.

What happens in Vegas… might just make you stay.

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Dirty Sexy Cuffed by Carly Phillips & Erika Wilde (Jun 21)

ARE YOU READY TO GET CUFFED?

As a cop, Levi Kincaid is all about discipline and control . . .in the bedroom, and out of it, and he’s always been very careful about choosing women who abide by his rules. Hot sex and intense pleasure? No problem. Emotional commitment and forever promises? No way. But he never anticipates falling for a blue eyed angel who makes him want to cuff her to his bed and do dirty, sexy things to her. And that control of his? It doesn’t stand a chance against Sarah Robins, the one woman he can’t resist . . .

Series Reading Order

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Into the Fire (#2 Bridge Series) by Meredith Wild (Jun 21)

Darren Bridge is living a bachelor’s dream. When he’s not running into burning buildings with his crew, he’s training the flavor of the week at his brother’s gym. Few women have ever been off limits…until Vanessa. Smart, beautiful, and legs for days, she’s unlike anyone he’s ever met. Too bad he’s sworn to leave her alone.

Overworked with no end in sight, Vanessa Hawkins hasn’t had a vacation in nearly two years. When Cameron and Maya’s destination wedding takes her out of the office for a much-needed break, she finds herself struggling to resist her attraction to the best man. Darren is dangerously good-looking with enough charm to make any hot-blooded woman want to drop her panties and enjoy the ride, no matter how long it lasts.

When they return to the city, Darren realizes the single life has lost its glimmer. But with everything else on her plate, Vanessa doesn’t have room in her life for a man, let alone a player. Can Darren find his way into her heart and convince her that he’s worth the risk?

Series Reading Order

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Smolder by Karen Erickson (Jun 21)

Lane Gallagher wants Delilah Moore—bad.

He’s imagined the sexy brunette in his bed more times than he can count.

She’s everything he’s ever wanted, but the only problem is . . .

She’s his brother’s ex.

For years, the stoic sheriff’s deputy has fantasized about the sweet, bubbly dance teacher who stirs his deepest desires. But Lane’s too loyal to ever move in on forbidden territory and he knows that while he can look, he definitely can’t touch. Fighting his attraction to Delilah is nearly impossible, but the infuriating—and incredibly sexy—woman seems determined to drive him crazy.

And she’s bringing him to his knees. One smoldering kiss at a time.

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Born of Legend by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Jun 21)

“It’s official Take a Psycho to Work Day. Why else would I be here?”

Hunted. Hated. Betrayed. Dagger Ixur is on the run for his life. As one of the most recognizable members of his royal house, he has a bounty on his head that guarantees him no quarter from any friend or even family. But surrender isn’t in him. He will fight to the bitter end. A resolve that is sorely tested when he narrowly escapes a trap that leaves him severely wounded. With what he believes is his dying breath, he saves a boy born to an extinct race from a group out to enslave the kid for his legendary abilities.

Ushara Altaan has spent her entire life hating those born to nobility. After all, it was a royal house that drove her entire species into virtual extinction. As a rare Andarion Fyreblood, she is sworn to end the existence of any royal she finds. But when Dagger saves her son’s life, she is torn between her people and a debt that can never be repaid.

Yet worse than Dagger’s family that’s still out to end hers, are the League assassins after him who will stop at nothing to claim the lives of her Tavali family. The only hope she has to save them all is to put their future and her faith into the hands of the very enemy whose grandmother personally extinguished Ushara’s legendary lineage. But how can she ever trust Dagger when he is a disinherited outlaw whose very name is synonymous with betrayal?

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Just A Girl by Ellie Cahill (Jun 21)

In this pitch-perfect novel from the author of When Joss Met Matt (“One of those books that make you forget everything around you.”—Sophie Jordan), a rock ’n’ roll diva must choose between her career and her heart.

After getting kicked out of her own band—by her own boyfriend—Presley Mason finds herself back in Wisconsin, helping her parents run their renowned music store. Instead of belting out powerhouse vocals to sold-out crowds in L.A., she’s stocking shelves and inspecting rental violins. But the shop isn’t all bad: When she’s vacuuming up late one night, she bumps into the guitar teacher with the smoldering amber eyes and the killer tattoo. And that’s when things take an interesting turn.

Presley soon finds that Paul Kellerman is as good in bed as he is on guitar. So why isn’t he stoked to share his band, Jukebox Bleu, with her? Turns out Paul has crippling stage fright, which he’s been self-medicating without much success. But when Jukebox Bleu’s lead singer gets called for military service, the other members beg Presley to front them. Even though she swore never to mix men with music again, the temptation to perform is almost as intense as her chemistry with Paul. Now Presley must decide what’s more important: a second chance at love . . . or rock stardom.

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Mr. Romantic by J.A. Huss (Jun 22)

Charm is the key to the world.
Charisma, magnetism, sex appeal—that ‘it’ factor that can’t be described.
Nolan Delaney has it is spades.
The infamous Mr. Romantic.
And maybe he is out of my league… But I’m going to give it the old college try anyway. Because I didn’t travel two thousand miles for a job interview at his request just to be put out like trash.
Don’t underestimate me, Mr. Delaney.
I’m really not as innocent as I look.