I've been looking at all these other blogs with end of the year best. Best Ten, Top Five, etc etc. Well me, I can't do that. I cannot pick 5 or 10 books and call it good. SO Instead I broke down into categories and listed anywhere from 3 to 5 authors OR books that I'd recommend from those that I read this year. Not your typical end of year post... but it's what works for me.
In no particular order or importance. I've linked all of my choices either to the authors Goodreads page where you can see their entire backlist OR to the books direct amazon page.
Complex or Damaged Characters
These are the authors who right the best complex or Damaged characters. The ones with flaws or have made huge mistakes or bad decisions or any number of other issues but you can’t help but fall in love with them and enjoy their stories as they try to change their lives.
1. J.C. Hannigan
2. Lia Riley
3. Sarina Bowen
Debut Authors to keep watching
These Authors released their first book in 2015. Though a couple of them have released more than one book in 2015 it was their debut novels that I read first and made me fall in love with their writing styles. I look forward to reading more of what they have to offer in 2016.
1. Fiona Cole
2. MK Meredith
3. Karla Sorenson
4. Katrina Kirkpatrick
5. Taylor Sullivan
Memorable Books
Thes are the books that stuck with me long after I finished reading. They had some sort of impact and left me thinking of them afterwards.
1. Pretty Pink Ribbons by KL Grayson
2. One Life by AJ Pine
3. The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen
4. My Soul To Keep by Kennedy Ryan
5. Bright Side by Kim Holden
Books that made me Laugh out Loud
Whether at the occasional scene or almost the entire book.
1. The Mistake/The Deal/The Score AKA the Off Campus Series by Elle Kennedy
2. The Allure of Julian Lefray by R.S. Grey
3. Deep by Kylie Scott
Fave Sports Romance
Books that involved sports romance in some sort. Be it Hockey or Football or whatever.
1. Hooked by Love by Toni Aleo
2. Zach by Sawyer Bennett
3. #Hashtag Series by Cambria Hebert
Series I loved that I started in 2015
These are series that released more than one book in 2015. The Series may or may not be complete now, but I loved all of the books written in them so far.
1. Mechanics of Love by Megan Erickson
2. LOST by Cynthia Eden
3. Bureau by Megan Mitcham
Paranormal/Fantasy
Shifters, Vampires, Psi and more.
1. Belong to the Night by Bridget Blackwood
2. Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh
3. The Shadows by JR Ward
There obviously were lots of other books I read through the year that released and other authors that I truly adore. But these are just a few that fit into the categories I chose.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Blog Tour & Review: With Every Breath by Lia Riley
We're celebrating the release of With Every Breath by Lia Riley!
With Every Breath (A Wanderlust Novel) by Lia Riley
NA Contemporary Romance
Release date: December 29, 2015
Forever Grand Central
Purchase With Every Breath
At the ends of the earth, Patagonia is a land where ambition trumps reason and the savage summit of La Aguja lures the most determined climbers. It's also the last spot a "play-it-safe girl" like Auden Woods expects to find herself. But she'll lace up her brand-new hiking boots and do whatever it takes to secure a dream job at an adventure magazine . . . even if it kills her. And it just might. When disaster strikes, her only chance at survival comes in the form of the surliest, sexiest mountaineer ever to come out of Scotland.
After a climbing accident cost him his brother, professional mountaineer Rhys MacAskill is at the end of his rope. Redemption is not in his future. That is, until a terrifying storm blows a budding journalist into his tent and it's up to him to make sure they both survive until morning. Despite the demons weighing on him, Rhys can't resist the temptation of the charming American and one wild night just isn't enough.
Auden and Rhys soon learn there are no shortcuts as they navigate their way between life, death, and atonement, and discover something they never expected-love. "Riley writes a captivating story from beginning to breathtaking end." -Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Inside Out
First and Foremost, I have to say that Lia Riley can write just about any type of story and completely suck you right into the scene. Her words are such a pull that you can almost see and feel the surroundings of all the fantastic places her characters move through. Vivid imagery, deep characters and heavy emotions add a distinct touch to each and every story as well.
With Every Breath reels you in with two people who couldn't be more different and yet seem to have found their perfect match. Auden is bound and determined to catch a big story and move up in the journalist world for the magazine she's got a new internship for. In addition to making her career dreams come true, she's also determined to find herself. To find the new and hopefully improved Auden. One who isn't hurt by a sister who seems determined to hurt her in every way at every turn.
Rhys is on his own mission, some would say a suicide mission, but he's resolved that he's going to climb La Aguja and find absolution or something like that. It's something he feels he has to do, something he doubts anyone else would understand. But he's going to do it alone, not like he has anyone to go with anyways.
When Rhys and Auden's paths cross, it seems meant to be. Auden's trying to find who she is, and Rhys doesn't want to know who he is. He doesn't want to be who he feels he is really. But one things for certain, they can't keep away from each other. What starts as a need to rescue the silly girl who wandered into his camp turns into something more. Something Rhys has never really felt before and something that scares him. Auden finds herself feeling out of place as well, she sees in herself something she doesn't like and though she doesn't act on that impulse it remains in her mind.
When Rhys learns more about who Auden really is, he doesn't react well. There is so much going on inside of his head, so much he's hidden and pushed away because he can't handle what others think of him. He's let himself be overwhelmed with guilt and let others decide his character rather than attempt to explain himself.
With Every Breath gives us the story of two lost souls who find themselves in the wild, on an adventure that went ways they never expected and couldn't have believed possible. Rhys and Auden delve deep into high emotions, thrusting their selves on a soul searching journey and come out on the other side having found more than who they really are. Their story is full of pain, full of grief and guilt and a loss of real connection. This book takes you on a full out adventure, a trek into the wild, into the unknown with no real expectations and rips emotions out of you as you put together details and watch two people become the healing balm they both needed in completely different ways.
GIVEAWAY:
Lia Riley writes offbeat New Adult and Contemporary Adult romance. After studying at the University of Montana-Missoula, she scoured the world armed only with a backpack, overconfidence and a terrible sense of direction. She counts shooting vodka with a Ukranian mechanic in Antarctica, sipping yerba mate with gauchos in Chile and swilling XXXX with stationhands in Outback Australia among her accomplishments.
A British literature fanatic at heart, Lia considers Mr. Darcy and Edward Rochester as her fictional boyfriends. Her very patient husband doesn't mind. Much. When not torturing heroes (because c'mon, who doesn't love a good tortured hero?), Lia herds unruly chickens, camps, beach combs, daydreams about future books, wades through a mile-high TBR pile and schemes yet another trip. Right now, Icelandic hot springs and Scottish castles sound mighty fine.
She and her family live mostly in Northern California.
Webpage: www.liariley.com
Twitter: @liarileywrites
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorliariley
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/liariley
Cover Reveal: Cruel Intentions by Scarlett York
We're so thrilled to share the cover of Scarlett York's CRUEL INTENTIONS, which releases January 12th!
Isn't it such a beautiful cover?
About CRUEL INTENTIONS
Love a rags-to-riches story?
This is more like rags-to-bitches.
I was far from living the dream, but now I'm stuck in a nightmare.
Torn from everything I knew, I'm trapped in a world full of lies, deceit....
And murder.
And I'm right in the middle.
Surrounded by fame, money, prestige and power,
I'm drowning in betrayal and deception.
And someone wants me dead.
Just like my mother...
Preorder and read CRUEL INTENTIONS for free on Kindle Unlimited!
Release Blitz: The Rake's Irish Lady by Barbara Monajem
The Rake's Irish Lady
by Barbara Monajem
Series: Scandalous Kisses, #2
Genre: Historical Romance - Regency
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Cover Designer: Anna Spies
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Cover Designer: Anna Spies
Release Date: December 30, 2015
ONE WILD NIGHT . . .
Widowed & lonely, Bridget O’Shaughnessy Black indulges herself in a night of pleasure.
After all, she's in disguise. And the baby girl? An unexpected blessing...until an old flame claims the child as his own to force Bridget to marry him.
ONE DETERMINED LADY. . .
Many women pursued Colin Warren, but only one climbed in his bedchamber window. When Bridget does it for the second time, she doesn't have fun in mind. Colin is unfit to be a parent, and yet he has no choice but to acknowledge the little girl.
RISKING EVERYTHING FOR LOVE
Circumstances force Bridget and Colin together, yet grave differences divide them. Can love bridge the chasm that keeps them apart?
Bridget shouldn’t let herself smile at Colin, because that invited a smile in return. The kind with dimples and a hunger that reached his eyes.
Probably reached hers, too, so she sighed and turned away. Yearning to touch him had become a physical ache, and even a brush of his hand, much less a boost on her derriere, made it a thousand times worse.
They wouldn’t catch up to the others tonight, but tomorrow, once the rain was over, they would find an alternate route. One more night of self-control…
She was a fool to want him, but she couldn’t help it. What had come over her? Suddenly, stupidly, she was willing to risk another illegitimate child by him.
They were almost at the inn. She dreaded another restless night. She needed something to distract her. “Where are those apples? The horses deserve a treat.”
Colin passed her the basket. She took four of the wrinkled apples. They pulled up in front of a battered old building with weathered timbers and dormers peeking from under a thatched roof. No eager servant came rushing out of the inn to greet them.
“House!” Colin bellowed, opening the coach door. Without bothering to let down the steps, he took Bridget by the waist and lifted her down into the rain. This time his hands didn’t linger. “Hurry up and give them the damned apples. Let’s get out of this bloody rain.”
“Would you stop fussing?” she cried. “We’ll catch up to Martin eventually.”
“That’s not what I’m fussing about,” he snapped, heading for the rear of the coach. Bridget offered apples to the wheeler and leader on one side and then stalked around to treat the others.
A spare, grizzled man limped out of the inn. “Come in, come in,” he said, but his eyes widened at the sight of Colin, in his wet but obviously costly clothing, unearthing two valises from the boot. “I’m that sorry, sir, but I don’t have accommodation for the likes of you.”
“Does your roof leak?” Colin demanded. “Do the fireplaces smoke?”
“No sir, but—”
“Will the horses be warm and dry too?” Bridget piped up, and suddenly she began to shiver.
“Aye, the stables is fine,” the landlord said.
“Then we’ll do fine, too.” Colin dropped the valises on the doorstep. “Warm and dry is all we ask, and I’ll pay handsomely for it.”
A stout lady in an old-fashioned mobcap appeared in the doorway. “What are you waiting for, Stan? I’ll light a fire in the guest chamber. Let the gentleman and his missus in before they catch their deaths.”
*Oh, dear.*
The landlord still seemed uneasy. “I’m sorry, sir, but we’ve only the one small guest room, and not even a private parlor.”
“We’ll do fine,” Bridget and Colin said simultaneously. Their hands touched and twined together. Clung together, as if one or the other of them—or both—was afraid the other would let go. Or as if they were about to plunge off a cliff and holding on for dear life.
Bridget’s heart began to pound. She slid her gaze surreptitiously toward Colin. He wasn’t looking at her but rather straight ahead. A drop of water rolled from his wet hair, over his brow, and down to his upper lip. His tongue flicked out and licked it up.
Desire roared through her. She shuddered. His right dimple appeared, but so briefly she almost didn’t see it.
The landlady bustled away, and the landlord grabbed the valises. “Just you follow me, then. I’m Stan Butterworth, and that’s my rib, Martha.” He led them through the taproom. “You’ll want to change out of them wet clothes first of all, and then we’ll see to your supper.” He preceded them up a narrow flight of stairs. “My Martha’s a right good cook, and we had mutton stew to our dinner, but it won’t be what you’re accustomed to.”
“I’m sure it will be delicious,” Bridget managed. Could food possibly have been farther from her mind?
“It can get right rowdy in here on a fair evening,” Mr. Butterworth said, “but we won’t have much custom tonight, what with the storm and all. You’ll have a peaceful sleep.”
Colin made a sound between a snort and a laugh, but he didn’t let go of her hand.
Barbara loves to cook, especially soups, and is an avid reader. There are only two items on her bucket list: to make asparagus pudding and succeed at knitting socks (or maybe tea cozies). She’ll manage the first but doubts she’ll ever accomplish the second. This is not a bid for immortality but merely the dismal truth (hence the tea cozies, which she hasn’t tried yet). She lives near Atlanta, Georgia with an ever-shifting population of relatives, friends, and feline strays.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Release Blitz & Review: Dirty Pleasures by Meghan March
Dirty Pleasures by Meghan March
Book Two of The Dirty Billionaire Trilogy
Date of Publication: December 29, 2015
Blurb
Dirty Pleasures
I did it. I married a billionaire.
My reasons are my own, but the last thing I expected was to feel owned.
I may have taken vows, but I'm still determined to be me.
Now his rules are taking over my world, but I'm not the kind of girl to just obey.
There's only one problem: I might actually be falling for him…
I have no idea how this marriage is going to go, but holding onto a piece of myself while succumbing to his dirty pleasures is shaping up to be the ride of a lifetime.
I did it. I married a billionaire.
My reasons are my own, but the last thing I expected was to feel owned.
I may have taken vows, but I'm still determined to be me.
Now his rules are taking over my world, but I'm not the kind of girl to just obey.
There's only one problem: I might actually be falling for him…
I have no idea how this marriage is going to go, but holding onto a piece of myself while succumbing to his dirty pleasures is shaping up to be the ride of a lifetime.
My Review:
Dirty Pleasures kicks us right back into the drama where we left off in Dirty Billionaire. Holly is back in Nashville and about to kick off on her tour. She left under less than stellar circumstances and isn't sure where she and her husband stand, but she knows she's not going to screw up her career chances.
Creighton Karas knows two things upon finding his wife missing; One he screwed up and Two he's not letting her get away. He has set his sights on this woman far more than he expected and it won't be over until and unless he says it is.
Dirty Pleasures brings us new information about both Creighton and Holly and shows us even more understanding for the reasons they are who they are. There are a few new twists and turns and we are left with more questions at the end of whether or not they can stay together or not.
Meghan March is weaving this swoony yet dirty tale for us bit by bit, but the characters have totally sucked me in and I'm left not only wanting more but praying for things to go the way I want them too.
I cannot wait to see what comes next for these two, looking forward to them learning more about each other and finally coming to more realizations about their relationship and how much they could mean to the other.
About Meghan March
Meghan March is the author of contemporary and erotic romance novels.
Meghan March has been known to wear camo face paint and tromp around in woods wearing mud-covered boots, all while sporting a perfect manicure. She's also impulsive, easily entertained, and absolutely unapologetic about the fact that she loves to read and write smut. Her past lives include slinging auto parts, selling lingerie, making custom jewelry, and practicing corporate law. Writing books about dirty talking alpha males and the strong, sassy women who bring them to their knees is by far the most fabulous job she's ever had. She loves hearing from her readers at meghanmarchbooks@gmail.com.
Find Meghan March Online
More from the Dirty Billionaire Trilogy!
Dirty Billionaire: Release Date 12/08/2015
I've got a big dick and an even bigger bank account. That's pretty much where my bio ends.Honestly, I don't need to say anything else. I've just sold 99% of women on going home with me.
Do I sound like an asshole to you?
That's because I am.
And guess what? It works for me just fine.
Or at least it did.
Until I met her.
Books talk about sparks flying. Fuck that shit. With her, it was like emergency flares mixed with jet fuel. Or maybe just straight up napalm.
Only one problem.
She wouldn't tell me her name or her number when she disappeared from the hotel room after the hottest fucking night of my life.
Now I've had a taste of unicorn pussy–the sweetest, rarest of all pussy–and I need it again.
So what's an asshole to do?
I took this problem to the street. A missed connection gone viral.
And when I find her? I'm keeping her.
Dirty Together: Release Date 01/12/2015
My wife.I love saying those words.
She's mine, and if she thinks I'm going to let her run without tracking her down and bringing her back to where she belongs–with me–then she's about to be introduced to a new reality.
Because I'll fight dirty to give her the happily ever after she deserves.
Preorder Now: Amazon | BN | iBooks
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Release Blast: Till Death Us Do Part by Cristina Slough
Enter to Win a
$10.00 Amazon eGift Card
TILL DEATH US DO PART
Cristina Slough
Releasing Dec 29th, 2015
Limitless Publishing
The fateful day Mimi Marcus has
dreaded begins with a phone call...
The wife of a U.S. Marine, Mimi
spent countless nights worried that her husband Joel would fall in the line of
duty. He had fought valiantly and served his country with honor. That’s exactly
what they tell her when they deliver the news—Joel was taken by the enemy in
Afghanistan. Her husband is dead.
In desperate need of closure, Mimi
travels to the one place Joel still has ties—The Marcus Ranch in Texas,
inherited by his handsome younger brother Austin.
New beginnings are only an
illusion...
The closer Mimi grows to the Marcus
family, the more she considers it home. But when suspicions of Joel’s past
surface, Austin refuses to disclose family secrets—even to his brother’s widow.
It’s only by accident she uncovers evidence of Joel’s tainted past. Devastated
by his lies and betrayal, she slowly opens up to Austin, and together they unfold
layers of pain and grief.
Mimi is
sure she’ll never love again, but is Austin the man to prove her wrong? Then
the unthinkable happens…
Just as Mimi finds new hope in a
future with Austin, Joel returns home from war. Enraged, traumatized, and
teetering on the edge of insanity, Joel confesses to a history of deception,
revealing yet another secret—this one too terrible to forgive.
In an
awful twist of fate, Joel proves marriage vows are made to be honored.
No matter what.
No matter what.
BUY NOW
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Cristina has always been a bookworm, rarely seen without a pen and paper in her hand, she loves delving into a literacy fictional world of her own.
At the age of 11, her junior school teacher told her mother that she would be wasting her life if she didn’t become an author. Throughout her teenage years and beyond, her parents spurred her on to keep writing. She later began a career in commercial real estate, working in London’s West End, a corporate bubble where she was unable to fuel her passion to write.
It was on her Californian honeymoon in 2012 that the bug to write was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. After visiting Yosemite National Park she was inspired by the natural beauty of the land that surrounded her. Holding a special place in her heart, Yosemite would later be written into her debut novel.
She finally gave up the ‘big smoke’ when her son, Lucas, was born in October 2013.
When Lucas was a newborn, Cristina was told to sleep when the baby sleeps. She never could. There was a calling inside her to write. After getting to grips with her new role as a mother, she began working a psychological thriller, but she couldn’t fully connect to the characters she created. She ditched the manuscript and started Till Death Us Do Part (Limitless Publishing, 2015).
Cristina is married to Adam, who runs a successful business; together they share their Bedfordshire home with their son, crazy white German Shepherd and three spoiled cats. They can be found trekking through woodlands, or around the many shops Cristina loves to explore. As a family, they love to travel frequently, the United States being a firm favorite.
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