Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Release Day Launch & Review: Until I'm Yours by Kennedy Ryan





About UNTIL I’M YOURS
Mean girl. Goddess. Bitch. Supermodel Sofie Baston has earned those labels . . . yet they don't scratch the surface of who she really is. Before she can follow her own dreams, Sophie must do her daughterly duty and reel in a "fish" for her father's business-a tall, brown-eyed entrepreneur who immediately hooks her. He's a big guy with an even bigger heart . . . but will that heart be open to Sofie once her darkest secret is revealed?

To Trevor Bishop, Sofie is a beautiful mystery he would gladly spend his life solving. He figures her tough demeanor is armor against a world that's hurt her too many times. Then Sofie's deepest wounds are reopened by the powerful, ruthless man who made them. When she musters the courage to take him down, her world shatters. Now Trevor is determined to help Sofie pick up the pieces so they can build a future together. The challenge will be convincing his ice princess that it's safe to melt in his arms . 






Excerpt:

“And this is his business partner, Trevor Bishop.”
Walsh steps back, and I have my first close up of the fish I’m baiting tonight. Only I’m the one hooked, immediately. I’m careful not to show it, but that stunned look I’m used to seeing on other people’s faces? All over my inside face.
This force of flesh and bone and muscle wrapped in heat looms over me. Trevor Bishop’s presence burns holes in my composure. I could tell from across the room he was attractive and built like a mountain lion, lean and strong and broad. It’s only now with proximity that his absolute confidence meets mine head on. He tilts his head to the left, his chocolate-colored eyes steadily considering me, and I swear he knows. Even though I’m sure my face doesn’t give it away, I swear he knows that as I stand in front of him, inhaling his clean scent and waiting for his first smile, windmills turn in my belly.
“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Baston.” His lips, wide and full, give me a smile punctuated by dimples. And he has a southern drawl.
Fuck me now.
That’s not a figure of speech. I quite literally want him to toss me over that hulking shoulder, find a dark corner somewhere and screw me so deeply into a wall we leave a dent. Or in a bathroom stall. Hell, he could drag me over to the elaborate buffet table and take me from behind right there by the ice sculpture.
One dark brown brow, a few shades darker than his hair, rises. Holy crap, I haven’t responded yet.
“Um, nice to meet you, too, Mr. Bishop.” I take my time so my tongue doesn’t betray the muddled mess of haywire hormones I am right now.
His eyes drift over my shoulder, forcing my mind and manners back to Rip.
“Oh, yes. I’m sorry. How rude.” I turn to Rip, who immediately claims my elbow and draws me into his side. All of a sudden he’s territorial. I can’t blame him. If my girlfriend was within five feet of this man, I’d handcuff her to me for the night. “This is Michael Ripley.”
“Great game Sunday.” Trevor shakes the hand Rip isn’t manacling me with. “I’m a Falcons fan myself, but I can appreciate a good toss no matter the team. That’s some arm you got there.”
Rip’s hold on me relaxes a bit. Clever Trevor, disarming him that way. Well played. Will I be able to strip this fish of his defenses as easily?
Once seated, Rip, Trevor, Harold and Walsh fall into a discussion of football I don’t even try to follow.  Apparently neither does Kerris. She’s texting someone with a small frown on her face, and mumbles something to Walsh about a sitter. I settle into my seat beside Trevor, taking a few moments to compose myself and strategize how I can get that hook in his mouth.
“So you were in Dubai?”
The question startles me a little, I was so lost in my musings. I turn slightly in Trevor’s direction, creasing my lips politely.
“For a shoot, yes.” I toy with the clamp on my clutch resting on the table. “And my friend Ardis married a prince over there. I like to visit her every once in a while.”
“A real live prince, huh?” He teases me with a quirk of those full lips.
“Don’t be too impressed.” I lean a few inches closer to him and lower my voice. “He’s a prince in name only.”
“If he’s a prince in name only, what does that make him in deed?”
I can’t hold onto the humor when I recall the bruises shackling Ardis’ throat and wrists, or the black and blue mark on her cheek like a brand. I refocus my eyes and sober my mouth.
“A frog.”
“I thought you ladies kissed all the frogs to find the prince.”
“It happens that way in fairy tales, not in Manhattan.” I sip my champagne. “Or in Dubai, apparently.”
“So that accounts for your tan.” His dark eyes make a slow, thorough inspection of my features.
“Hmmm. What accounts for yours?” I toss a skein of silvery blonde hair back so he gets an eyeful of the bare line of my neck and shoulder. His eyes move down my neck, warming the skin like a touch, before he looks back into my eyes.
“Haiti.” He laughs a little, lounges back in his chair and links long fingers across a flat stomach I imagine is corded with muscle. “Well, and my father is Lumbee, so some of my tan’s natural.”
“Lum what?”
He laughs again, his teeth white against his skin. I really like that it’s because of something I said.
“Lumbee Indian, a tribe found mostly in Lumberton, North Carolina.”
“So your mother’s responsible for the red hair?”
“She is.” He brushes a hand over his neat hair, disrupting it into a coppery spill on his forehead. “I was spared the freckles, though.”
“I’m sure there’s one or two.”
His eyes are suddenly hot chocolate, heating up a little as they hold mine.
“You’re welcome to try to find them.”






Until I'm Yours, is the second Kennedy Ryan book I've read, and she's definitely found a fan in me.  Now I'm antsy to read the previous related books. 

Sofie pretty much struck me from teh first of the book. She's got an inner strength she doesn't often recognize and she's inherently a good person. But she's dealing with so much, that she doesn't let that shine through often.  She's been hurt so much in the past, by family, by friends, and by men, that she's built a wall around herself and in doing so, she's created a few scandals here and there.  Sofie believes the worst about herself, and its hard for her to see the blame others hold.  That is until she meets Trevor and he refuses to let her believe she's anything but worthy. 

Trevor feels a draw to Sofie from the first, before he even meets her in person, he's curious.  Meeting her the first time only strengthens taht curiosity and his resolve to do something about it.  He's not willing to give up, doing all he can to make sure he's around for Sofie, to get to know her, to let her get to know him, to get something started.  He's a smart businessman, he's ruthless in the good ways, but also kind and generous. He knows that there is a lot more to Sofie than what people see at surface value. 

Until I'm Yours is an amazing story, the build up for Sofie and Trevor as their feelings devlop more and as they learn more about each other is beautiful.  There are intense moments where emotions are high, there is lots of banter, and there are moments where Trevor lets Sofie come out and show him who she really is. He gives her the safety of allowing her to be real, something she hasn't really had before.  

The side characters throughout this story also add a different layer to it, making me curious to know their secrets and more about them.  I felt sucked into more than just Sofie and Trevor's story.  I love that Kennedy Ryan can pull me in and make me have all sorts of feelings for every character in the book, from those I wanted to hit, to those I wanted to hug, each character plays their part into making Sofie who she was, is, and who she can be.  

Kennedy Ryan has done a beautiful job, showing us the Sofie behind the facade, the girl at the heart of  what some have labled the so called "cold" woman. A girl who has had to bear so much in her years and is finally finally at a point she can do what she wants to do. She's free to be true to herself.  Though, I adored the romance between Trevor and Sofie, even more I liked seeing the growth of Sofie from the start of the book to the end. 












About Kennedy Ryan
I'm a wife, a mom, a writer, an advocate for families living with autism. That's me in a nutshell. Crack the nut, and you'll find a Southern girl gone Southern California who loves pizza and Diet Coke, and wishes she got to watch a lot more television. You can usually catch me up too late, on social media too much, or FINALLY putting a dent in my ever-growing To Be Read list!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)