Cover Reveal: Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout

*jig jig* I’m so freakin’ excited.

Anyhoo, on with what you came for.

~~~~~

Title: Obsession

Series: An Arum Novel #1

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Covet (NA)

Release Date: 5/31/2013

Um … is it just me, or does this cover make Arum’s look HOT!?

Dang!

And here’s the blurb:

He’s arrogant, domineering, and… To. Die. For.

Hunter is a ruthless killer. And the Department of Defense has him firmly in their grasp, which usually doesn’t chafe too badly because he gets to kill bad guys. Most of the time he enjoys his job. That is, until he’s saddled with something he’s never had to do before: protect a human from his mortal enemy.

Serena Cross didn’t believe her best friend when she claimed to have seen the son of a powerful senator turn into something…unnatural. Who would? But then she witnesses her friend’s murder at the hands of what can only be an alien, thrusting her into a world that will kill to protect their secret.

Hunter stirs Serena’s temper and her lust despite their differences. Soon he’s doing the unthinkable—breaking the rules he’s lived by, going against the government to keep Serena safe. But are the aliens and the government the biggest threats to Serena’s life…or is it Hunter?

~~~~~

Is it just me, or does this blurb make Arum’s sound hot, too?

Double diggity dang!

So, what does everyone think of this one? A New Adult spin-off from JLA’s Young Adult Lux series. Everything we’ve come to learn about this author’s created world with the potential for even more heat than Daemon & Katy give us? Dude! Sign me up!

You can add the title to your Goodreads by clicking on the coverart image.

~~~~~

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell, Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Cover Reveal: Are You Mine by N.K. Smith

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Title: Are You Mine?

Author: N.K. Smith

Release Date: August 7th 2013

Publisher: Free Yourself Press

Cover Design by Regina Wamba at MaeIDesign.com | Photography by Poly Mendes at PolyMendesPhotography

And the blurb:

Human connection? Who needs it?

Ever since she can remember, wealthy but weary Saige Armstrong has felt different from her peers in Pechimu, New Jersey. With only one good friend to her name, she has navigated the complicated halls of high school and is now faced with the timeless question: Now what?

Fox Harrington, a fun-loving, socially charismatic graffiti artist uses his passions to color his world exactly how he wants it. He knows exactly where his life is headed. That is, until he meets Saige.

A summer project links the two together, making a tentative friendship bloom into romance, but despite their affection for each other, fundamental beliefs and ways of thinking threaten to destroy all they have built.

In this tender story of young love, N.K. Smith delivers a striking tale of two people standing on the precipice of adult life.

~~~~~~

Dunno about you guys, but I’m kinda digging this one. The reason I chose the full jacket cover to share, rather than just the front cover, is because I like how the image bleeds over onto the back. I can see this one being real pretty in print. And the blurb sounds decent, too.

But that’s not all. Because I also have a great little excerpt to share with you guys, too.

~~~~~~

“We’re not going to get caught. I’m a ninja.”

She’s not impressed by this. “But I’m not.”

“You could be,” I say as I take the spray cans from her and start to walk toward the bridge. It’s dark but not pitch black. The moon is high and shines down on us, giving her a striking glow that’s hard to ignore. To be honest, this bridge is a little more traveled than some
of the bridges I tag and the top has fencing to keep graffitists like me from defacing it, but I’ve scouted it out and know there’s a hole in the fence about three-quarters of the way down, so that’s where I’ll start.

When we get there, she bounces from foot to foot and turns her head left and right constantly as I paint. I feel better about tagging this one while I have a lookout.

“Stop freaking out. Just don’t think about being caught. Let’s just leave something lasting on this bridge, make our mark, and we’ll get out of here.”

“I can’t believe you think this is fun.”

“It is fun,” I say as I lift one foot off the bridge in order to reach a spot toward the bottom of my design. It’s different tonight. The fox is the same, but I’ve added little something else to mark it as the joint effort of Saige and me.

“Shit, there’s a car!”

I chuckle as I hear the near panic in her voice, but when I hear the car pass, I reach my hand back. “Green, please.”

She takes one can out of my hand and replaces it with the requested color. “Hurry up. I’m totally going to punch you in the gut if I get into trouble for this.”

In less than a minute, I’m finished and facing her. “There’s nothing wrong with a little trouble, Saigaweena. Lets you know you’re alive.”

“Saigaweena?”

“It made you smile, so yeah, Saigaweena.”

I look both ways and cross the street. I want to take her hand and pull her along with me, but I leave her to make her own decision. She follows, which excites me not only because she’s carrying half my paint, but because every time I’m near her, I get a little thrill. It’s like riding a roller coaster for the first time and the cart has just reached the summit of the first hill, and you look down and think what did I get myself into?

There’s no hole in the fencing on this side, so I take out my cutting pliers and use as much force as I can to snap the metal.

“Holy shit, Fox. Tagging’s one thing, now you’re destroying the—”

I stop what I’m doing and put my hands on her shoulders. “Ninjas don’t talk so much.

It’s quiet time. Let me work, and you can nag me about it later, okay?”

She narrows her eyes. “I’m not nagging. I’m protesting.”

“Protest silently.”

“This is destruction of property!”

“What you call destruction of property, I call beautifying the urban American landscape.”

“It’s graffiti,” she says, her voice nothing more than a hiss.

“I prefer urban art, thank you very much.”

~~~~~~

Hehehe, well, whatcha think? You can add this one to your Goodreads by clicking the coverart image above.

And be sure to keep a watch out for other reveal posts today, because there will be plenty more snippets from this book on offer.

Based in the American Midwest, N.K. Smith is a Technical Writer for a Fortune 100 company. The author of the Old Wounds Series, Ghosts of Our Pasts, and My Only, she is a mother of two who finds the time to write very early in the morning when the rest of the world is still fast asleep.

An avid lover of history, art, music, books, and people, she is interested in telling stories that speak to the human condition.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

Cover Reveal: Frigid by J. Lynn {Jennifer L. Armentrout} :D :D :D

Excuse me whilst I take a moment from my usually reserved cover-revealing-self to squeal: 

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Okay, with that done, let’s get on with it.

Title: Frigid

Author: J. Lynn {Jennifer L. Armentrout}

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Release Date: July 30th 2013 (Ebook)/November 5th 2013 (print)

Cover design: Okay Creations
Photographer: Jennifer Rush

And here’s the blurb:

For twenty-one-year-old Sydney, being in love with Kyler isn’t anything new. They’d been best
friends ever since he pushed her down on the playground and she made him eat a mud pie.
Somewhere over the years, she fell for him and fell hard. The big problem with that? Kyler puts
the ‘man’ in man-whore. He’s never stayed with a girl longer than a few nights, and with it being their last year in college, Syd doesn’t want to risk their friendship by declaring her love.

Kyler has always put Syd on a pedestal that was too high for him to reach. To him, she’s perfect and she’s everything. But the feelings he has for her, he’s always hidden away or focused on any other female. After all, Kyler will always be the poor boy from the wrong side of tracks, and Syd will always be the one girl he can never have.

But when they’re stranded together at a posh ski resort due to a massive Nor’easter, there’s nothing stopping their red-hot feelings for each other from coming to the surface. Can their friendship survive the attraction? Better yet, can they survive at all? Because as the snow falls, someone is stalking them, and this ski trip may be a life-changer in more ways than one.

~~~~~~

Excited?

I am.

This looks awesome and sounds awesome and I can’t wait.

Don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads by clicking the coverart image.

J. Lynn, also known as Jennifer L. Armentrout, is a # 1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling

author. She lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t
true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really
bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russel Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing
short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal,
science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press,
Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled
Brazen and HarperCollins.

Twitter  | Facebook  | Website 

Review: Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Title: Walking Disaster

Series: Beautiful #2

Author: Jamie McGuire

Publisher: Atria Books

Publication date: April 2nd 2013

Source: Received an ARC from publisher via NetGalley.

From Goodreads: 

Finally, the highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Can you love someone too much?
Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

My Review

Okay, let me just preface this by saying how much I LOVED Beautiful Disaster (in fact, here’s my review for proof). It was totally one of my most favourite reads of 2012. And I totally adored Travis despite his dysfunctional and F’d up ways.

For that reason, Walking Disaster was one my most anticipated books of this year.

Unfortunately, I just wasn’t feeling it. There was just too much that bothered me about it. And I ended up stalling and stepping away at 90% when I realised I’d reached the point of forcing myself to finish.

You see, Walking Disaster doesn’t come in at the exact same spot as BD (and I’m not referring to the Prologue). Where it does come in at is confusing to someone who’s read BD, so to someone who tries to read this blind? Don’t. Just don’t. You won’t have a freaking clue what’s going on. Because even to me, this ended up reading like a bunch of random and disjointed scenes, with the MC hopping from one to the other. To begin, I thought maybe it was just because Travis is a much more erratically chaotic person than Abby, and that it had intention been written the way is has to reflect that. But the more I read, the more it lost even that feel. Because the connection I had with BD, when the story is written from Abby’s POV, is lacking for me in Walking Disaster. I’m just not feeling it. Nothing gels together right. The emotion is lacking. There are quite a few places where the story has been pasted over from Beautiful Disaster (obviously—because that’d make sense for getting the timeline straight), but in those places, it reads as though not enough care has been made with the POV switch up. So the book is rife with POV breaches and character assumption., and at one point, the there’s a slip where the I hasn’t made the leap to ‘she’ (but note: this is an ARC that I read, so it’s an edit that could have been caught before publication).

More so, one of the things I loved about BD was the fact that the author didn’t hold back—the scenes were all vibrant and colourful (in more ways than one), but this feels tamed and toned down like crazy, and so it feels like it’s missing the wildness of BD. Plus, because quite a few of the scenes that I enjoyed from Abbi’s POV, or were important from Abbi’s POV, have been skimmed over, to the point it seems to hop from spot to spot with little transition. It also makes Abby seem as erratic as Travis, and loses some of her drive, and leaves the reader with little understanding of why she changes her mind about Travis and is suddenly acting cuddly and ‘nice’ toward him after surliness—she almost seems psychotic.

I’m a little concerned by the fact that WD is a visually pleasing book, which means folk are likely to be tempted to pick it up in a bookstore, but the truth is, it’s so under-explained and confusing that, if I hadn’t already read BD, I would’ve stopped reading at around 5%, then again at 10%, and at around the 50%, I started to skim to get to the good bits.

And the good bits, for me, ended up comprising of learning why Travis calls Abby Pidgeon—found out right at the very beginning, so nothing really to hold out for there; what drives Travis to love as possessively as he does; and the scene between Travis and Abby when at his family home for Thanksgiving—because that’s pretty much the only spot he tugged on my heartstrings and I 100% felt the emotions of his behaviour and love for Abby.

So, I’m sad. Because I truly wanted this to blow me away as much as Beautiful Disaster did, but it just didn’t.

Have you read this title? What’d you think?

Review: Losing It by Cora Carmack

Title: Losing It

Series: Losing It #1

Author: Cora Carmack

Publisher: Ebury Press

Publication date: October 12th 2012

Source: Review copy received via NetGalley

From Goodreads: 

Virginity.

Bliss Edwards is about to graduate from college and still has hers. Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, she decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible– a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if if that weren’t embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She’d left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

My Review

Have you ever finished reading a book, and although the enjoyed the pants off it, you seriously have no idea what to say, other than ‘Well, this was pretty awesome’????

Yeah, that’s about how I am over Losing It.

From the off, I connected with the voice of Bliss. She’s so hilariously funny, I’d only reached single digit percentage in my Kindle book and had already laughed out loud numerous times.

There are a lot of New Adult books currently creeping into the market—mostly contemporary—and so far they’ve been full of tortured souls with dark demons to overcome before they can trust enough to find love. After reading a few of those (this isn’t a dig, because I love them), the light tone and amusing entertainment of Losing It was seriously refreshing.

Sure, there were a few editing errors, but once I’d gotten over those, they did little to sway me from the pleasure of the read. I seriously loved Bliss’s character. As mentioned above, she’s hilarious, but in a totally awkward and don’t even know she’s doing it kind of way, and I loved that about her. I loved even more that this awkward hilarity is almost 100% maintained throughout the entirety of the book. The only time my smile slipped to allow a new emotion to slip through was during the fall out Bliss had with her best friend (and that’s all I’m saying on that).

Oh, and of course Mr Hot Guy in here is totally adorable too. I’ll be frank and say I didn’t have his number to begin, and wondered if there was some seediness hovering below his surface, but man was I ever-happy to have any fears quelled.

So I’ll wrap up, and simply say this: if you’re digging the NA scene, and are looking for a break from the dark and edgy, and in search of something that’s a heapload of fun, then seriously—Losing It is the book for you. Check it out. It’s worth your time. Because it was so much more than I expected it to be, and so much deeper than the title suggests.

Have you read this title? What’d you think?

Review: Wait For You by J. Lynn (Jennifer L. Armentrout)

Title: Wait For You

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication date: February 26th 2013

Source: I own a copy

From Goodreads: 

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… so lickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…

My Review

Wait For You is the kind of story that takes about 10 seconds flat for you to become absorbed.
And man, was I grateful. Because I had a reading hole that needed filling and nothing short of muchero coolioness would have done.

In this contemporary NA, we have one Avery Posh-Bird, with a horrid past that she’s all too keen to leave behind.

We also have one Cameron Hot-Spanky-Pants, who wants to nudge through the shell Ms Posh-Bird’s deposited herself in.

From the get-go, these two have great chemistry, great camaraderie, and differing personalities that, when placed together, become something pretty awesome. I loved watching their time together. Loved watching the development of their relationship—even though it was a relationship way before either of them realised it—and loved the character development in here too. Loved Cam’s perseverance and the subtleness of it, and the way he needled his way into her heart.

I also appreciated that he wasn’t Mr Perfect. And I don’t just mean that he had what he considered to be a dark secret of his own. I mean in the sense that he struggled to handle certain parts of their relationship. Whilst I wanted to smack him upside the head for appearing to turn away when she oh-so needed him not to, I get that it wouldn’t have been so true to life for a dude of that age to take absolutely everything in his stride and know how to react to it. So, on top of loving all their interactions, I loved the fact that this was kept ‘real’.

Plus there were the side character. The pals of each of the two main players. They were as full bodied and great to spend time with as Cam & Avery, so big kudos for that—though, I’d expect nothing less from this author.

However, there were a couple of things that drove me nuts about this book.

The first has to do with Cam … *cringes and ducks as shoes fly in my direction* Yes, he’s pretty awesome. Lord knows, he says so himself enough times. Just as he tells—often—about his hotness, like we can’t figure that out ourselves when his dark hair falls just so, and he peers up from extremely lush dark lashes with incredibly striking blue eyes, or by the tautness of his abs, and the hotness of his flat stomach, and the rigidness of his—okay, that’s enough of that. Because, for me the guy had a major flaw. Yup, his use and overuse and even more uses of the endearment ‘sweetheart’ made my eye twitch like it had spasm-control issues. Sorry. Truly. But I just couldn’t get on board with a guy that age constantly using that word—not unless he’s a slimeball. Dunno—maybe it’s the Brit V US deal going on.

And the second thing I had issue with? Well, it has absolutely nothing to do with JLA’s writing ability, because her talent at telling a tale is what has me coming back time after time. It was the editing. There were so many errors—grammatical mostly, and some typos—in this book that it became distracting. Errors like you for your, or on for one, and words blatantly absent from sentences … if there were a handful, I could’ve ignored them, but the book was pretty rife.

Those issues aside, though, there’s no denying this is a great read. It was ‘hotter’ than I expected. But majorly enjoyable.

Have you read this title? What’d you think?

Cover Reveal: Out of Play by Nyrae Dawn & Jolene Perry

Title: Out of Play

Author: Nyrae Dawn & Jolene Perry

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Release date: August 6th 2013

And here’s the blurb:

Rock star drummer Bishop Riley doesn’t have a problem. Celebrities—especially ones suffering from anxiety—deserve to party, right? Wrong. After taking a few too many pills, Bishop wakes up in the hospital facing an intervention. If he wants to stay in the band, he’ll have to detox while under house arrest in Seldon, Alaska.

Hockey player Penny Jones can’t imagine a life outside of Seldon. Though she has tons of scholarship offers, the last thing she wants is to leave. Who’ll take care of her absent-minded gramps? Not her mother, who can’t even be bothered with the new tenants next door.

Penny’s too hung up on another guy to deal with Bishop’s crappy attitude, and Bishop’s too busy
sneaking pills to care. Until he starts hanging out with Gramps. If Bishop wants a chance with the fiery girl next door, he’ll have to admit he has a problem and kick it. Too bad addiction is hard to kick…and Bishop’s about to run out of time.

B&N | Amazon

~~~~~

I predict a little heartbreak, plenty of anguish & angst, and a whole lot of self-enlightenment, self-discovery, and the promise of a little love.

This one’s already on my to-read list. What do you think? Gonna put it on yours? All’s you got to do is click the coverart to go to its Goodreads page.

Cover Reveal: Wait For You by J Lynn (Eeep!)

I’m veeeeeeeeerrrrrrryyyy excited to be taking part in the cover reveal for J. Lynn’s (aka: Jennifer L. Armentrout) Wait For You.

Let’s take a look at what it’s all about:

What do early readers have to say about WAIT FOR YOU?

“J. Lynn creates a wonderful cast of characters that will make you laugh, swoon, and cry. Cam stole my heart.” – Cora Carmack, NYTimes and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of LOSING IT

“For the love of all that is Cameron without a shirt on! Wait for You will have you laughing out loud, fanning yourself and anxiously waiting to know what will happen next.” – Molly McAdams, NYTimes and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of FROM ASHES and TAKING CHANCES

“I don’t think I have ever read a NA Contemporary novel with as much depth as this one. It really moved me and by the end I was just speechless over how inspirational and uplifting it was as well as being sexy and cute and funny and emotional.” - K Books

 “Wait For You is uniquely different from anything else J. Lynn’s written but it might possibly be her best work yet.” – Jenuine Cupcakes

 “For all of you in love with Aiden and Daemon, PREPARE YOURSELVES! Your heart will have to expand a little more for Cam.” Total Bookaholic

 “For the love of all things CAM, this book deserves more than 5 stars.” – Mundie Moms

“I cannot even begin to explain how much I adored this perfectly crafted contemporary.” – Shortie Says

Excited? Ready to see the cover for WAIT FOR YOU?

Below:

And here’s the blurb:

Some things are worth waiting for…

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago—an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, not draw any attention to herself, and maybe—please God—make a few friends, because surely that would be a nice change of pace. The one thing she didn’t need and never planned on was capturing the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future she’s building for herself.

Some things are worth experiencing…

Cameron Hamilton is six feet and three inches of swoon-worthy hotness, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed were irrevocably stolen from her. She knows she needs to stay away from him, but Cam is freaking everywhere, with his charm, his witty banter, and that damn dimple that’s just so… solickable. Getting involved with him is dangerous, but when ignoring the simmering tension that sparks whenever they are around each other becomes impossible, he brings out a side of her she never knew existed.

Some things should never be kept quiet…

But when Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls forcing her to face a past she wants silenced, she’s has no other choice but to acknowledge that someone is refusing to allow her to let go of that night when everything changed. When the devastating truth comes out, will she resurface this time with one less scar? And can Cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?

And some things are worth fighting for…

~~~~~~

Yippee!

I’m excited. Can you tell I’m excited?

Aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnd:

WAIT FOR YOU is available now!

O_O

O_O O_O

You can grab it here:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

J. Lynn, also known as Jennifer L. Armentrout, is the USA TODAY Bestselling author of the adult romance Gamble Brothers’ series, the young adult Lux Series and award winning Covenant Series. She pretty much writes everything—contemporary, paranormal, and fantasy. All of her books have one thing in common no matter the name or genre: kissing… and stuff. When she’s not busy writing, which is never, she’s usually hanging out with dog Loki, watching reruns of The Walking Dead, or procrastinating on the Internet. You can find out more about Jennifer by visiting the following websites:

Twitter | Facebook | Website

Head Over Wheels by January Valentine: Book Spotlight + #Giveaway Announcement

Hi guys!

Thanks for stopping by to check out this post.

Head Over Wheels is January Valentine’s new spicy young romance, and to celebrate its upcoming release on February 14th, the author is running an awesome Valentine’s Day Giveaway you might want to check out.

Here’s the book in question:

Love is the beauty which clings to life, binds hearts together, leaving them hollow without it.

For as long as she can remember, Jewelia Delarosa has dreamed of becoming a Crime Scene Investigator, and here she is, living in Manhattan with best friend and psychologist Emma Kim, about to graduate John Jay College with a 3.8 and a B.S. in Criminal Justice. Possessing all of the necessary qualifications, Jewelia is focused and cocksure. But before she has a chance to set foot through the doors of the Police Academy, she’s captured by a charming medical student, thrown into a battle for love, and the promising career that yesterday seemed merely a heartbeat away.

James “Indigo” Ballou is breathtakingly irresistible, disturbingly unpredictable, and even with her investigative prowess, “Jewel” can’t figure out why. Their relationship tosses like the wild waves of The Hamptons, where she comes face to face with her nemesis, realizing there’s more to their periods of separation than his hectic schedule.

Whatever secret Indigo is hiding parts them emotionally, but not physically. Traipsing through a series of seductive encounters, Jewel finds herself drowning in lust, desperation, and worst of all, injustice.

Whether on the front seat of his Wrangler or his kitchen counter, her reserve is low, desire higher than the roof of the isolated A-frame in Maine where the two enjoy a weekend with friends, and take romance to the next level.

The mystery is solved, and Jewelia believes she’s conquered her demon ― until the unimaginable strikes and she’s forced to take matters into her own hands. Jewelia must confront the dark streets of New York City, and a challenge even a seasoned cop might not attempt without backup.

Sound like your cup of tea?

Well, January is giving away Head Over Wheels in paperback, Nook, AND Kindle format, as well as a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate. To enter, simply hop across to the Rafflecopter over on January’s BLOG.

Good lucks, peeps!

Review: Easy by Tammara Webber

Title: Easy

Author: Tammara Webber

Publication date: May 25th 2012

Source: I own a copy

From Goodreads: 

A girl who believes trust can be misplaced, promises are made to be broken, and loyalty is an illusion. A boy who believes truth is relative, lies can mask unbearable pain, and guilt is eternal. Will what they find in each other validate their conclusions, or disprove them all?

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she’s single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex’s frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night–but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he’s hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

My Review

Okay, so I kinda have mixed feelings on this one. Because, whilst there was some great pluses for the read, there were also a number of things that bugged me.

One of the biggest issues that marred my enjoyment was the seemingly random tossing in of scenes/backstory. For example: we’d be in a scene and all of a sudden we’d be shown snippets from a scene that had happened some time before, that had absolutely nothing to do with the current scene and served no purpose other than to tell us a little about the character that we didn’t need to know because the author had an entire novel to reveal their personality. I think the worst case of irrelevant backstory was when Jacqueline approaches Dr Heller to quiz him about Lucas’s past. One second, the good doctor is telling her it isn’t his place to share that kind of information, and then next second—with very little prompting/pleading—he’s spewing his life story like he has a sudden urge to exorcise himself of it. The worst of it was that his actual answer to J’s actual question was only a couple of paragraphs long, and he went and surrounded it with so much unnecessary waffle, my eyes glazed over. Most of these backstory episodes happened fairly early on in the book, and petered off for a little while—which was GOOD, because they totally distracted me and gave me neck ache—but then being slamdunked with that humdinger one near the end seriously bugged me. Evidently, as I’ve just waffled on about it so much.

I think my point is that it’s a shame—because there was a lot of instances where the narration veered off in unnecessary directions, or mused over subjects a few sentences too long, and whatnot. All this needed was a decent editor to clean the MS up—and it would have been a far stronger read.

Because, for the most part, Easy is a decent tale. I connected with, related to, and liked J—and enjoyed her voice. Whilst I sometimes felt there was a little bit of inconsistency to Lucas’s character (though that was kind of explained when we learned of his demons), I LOVED Lucas, and really enjoyed getting to know him. I just wish he’d behaved like less of an arse whenever he gave J the cold shoulder treatment. But I did like him a lot, and I forgave him by the end. It was a lot of fun watching their relationship develop—more so before J figured out that L & L were one and the same. The only thing that really bothered me about their budding relationship was how much time they spent licking the insides of each others’ mouths. O_o A bit more variation there would have been good after a while.

Then we have the supporting cast: Erin—the kind of best friend every girl should have; Chase—who I kind of felt bad for way before Erin or J did; Benji (gay friends seem to be becoming requisite in contem ya)—though I did feel as though it took a while for his character to come into its own; and ‘the ex’—who was as slimy as I wanted him to be, and I’m so, so glad he didn’t even get consideration for the second chance he requested.

We also have the plot. I thought the unsavoury scenes were well handled, as was the dealing of each situation. I don’t think there was a singular part of the plot I found unbelievable (though one or two spots—can’t recall which—were a bit convoluted), and I enjoyed it a lot. Though, I did get to around 80% and think ‘dude, when is this book going to end’? (this was, albeitly, right after the scene with Dr Heller had annoyed me). So again, I’ll reiterate on my above comment about needing a good editor. Because it seemed to drag on a teensy bit too long—and it wouldn’t have done with all of those abovementioned scenes spit and polished. Which is the reasoning for my rating. It was a decent read that needs work—with the work, it would have been an easy 4.

Have you read this title? What’d you think?