17 June 2014

Cover Reaveal: Falling Away by Penelope Douglas

Title: Falling Away (Fall Away, #3)
Author: Penelope Douglas
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Synopsis

Jaxon is the guy she’s supposed to avoid. 
K.C. is the girl he won’t let get away....

K. C. Carter has always followed the rules—until this year, when a mistake leaves her the talk of her college campus and her carefully arranged life comes crashing to a halt. Now she’s stuck in her small hometown for the summer to complete her court-ordered community service, and to make matters worse, trouble is living right next door.

Jaxon Trent is the worst kind of temptation and exactly what K.C. was supposed to stay away from in high school. But he never forgot her. She was the one girl who wouldn’t give him the time of day and the only one to ever say no. Fate has brought K.C. back into his life—except what he thought was a great twist of luck turns out to be too close for comfort. As they grow closer, he discovers that convincing K.C. to get out from her mother’s shadow is hard, but revealing the darkest parts of his soul is nearly impossible.…

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Falling Away - Teaser
(unedited, subject to change prior publication)

“You’re afraid of yourself,” he said flatly. “Not me.”

And then he backed up, looking down at me." And that’s why you’re gutless, K.C." All the softness from his voice was now gone. “Now I have to shower, and you need to leave.”

And he turned around and strode for the men’s locker room.

I shook my head.

He was wrong. I wasn't gutless. Why did he keep saying that?

I sniffled and cleared my throat, standing tall. “Maybe I just don’t want you,” I blurted out and damn near smiled when he spun around, looking surprised. “Maybe I just don’t want you, Jax. Did you ever consider there might be one woman in this world that doesn’t pant after you?”

And I breathed out a small laugh as I spun around and headed for the door.

But before I even reached the handle, an arm circled my waist, yanking me back into a warm body, and I gasped just as my hair was swiped to the side and a hot mouth was on my neck.

Everything fell apart. My knees buckled, but he held me tight as my eyes closed, and my neck fell to the side, inviting him in.

Oh, my God!

It felt so good. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t pull away. I couldn’t stop him. His mouth was like hot water pouring over me, creating a blanket of heat. His teeth grazed my skin, rough but not hard, and he slid his lips and teeth over the sensitive area under my ear, and I wasn’t sure if he was kissing me or getting ready to eat me.

He left short but deep kisses across my neck, at the base, and under my ear. His tongue flicked my ear lobe right before his other hand reached around and turned my chin to him.

And then his mouth was on mine. I moaned and gasped, probably sounding like I was in pain, but I couldn’t help it. The tornado between my legs made my skin tingle.

Jax’s tongue found mine, and I groaned into his mouth, inhaling his scent that reminded me of summer. Of sweet cotton candy on a Ferris Wheel and cool water on hot skin.

The heat, the wetness, the taste, everything was hard and fast as his lips worked mine.

Keeping the same arm around my waist, his other hand left my face and dove straight under my skirt and into my panties.

“Oh,” I whimpered a muffled groan into his mouth that still held me hostage. What was he doing? I needed to stop this!

But my eyes fluttered as his smooth fingers dipped into my center, swirling the wetness already there around my clit.

And then his mouth left mine, and he yanked me up off my feet and growled in my ear.

“You’re so wet for me, K.C.” His voice was hard and threatening. “You're gutless, helpless, and a fucking liar, too.”

And then he dropped me on my ass, and I fell to the mats, shaking with confusion.

All I heard behind me was a door open and close, and I knew I was alone.

Bringing a shaky hand to my mouth, I sucked in air like it was going out of style. “Holy shit,” I whispered.

© Penelope Douglas, Falling Away
Buy books 1 & 2 of the series
 
Bully (Fall Away, #1)
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♦♦♦♦
Until You (Fall Away, #1.5)
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Pre-order RIVAL
Coming August 26, 2014
Rival (Fall Away, #3)
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About Penelope

Penelope Douglas is a writer and teacher in Las Vegas. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, she is the oldest of five children. Penelope attended the University of Northern Iowa, earning a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, because her father told her to "just get the degree!" She then earned a Masters of Science in Education at Loyola University in New Orleans, because she hated Public Administration. One night, she got tipsy and told the bouncer at the bar where she worked that his son was hot, and three years later they were married. To the son, not the bouncer. They have spawn, but just one. A daughter named Aydan. Penelope loves sweets, the show Sons of Anarchy, and she shops at Target almost daily.


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Review: Dirty Angels by Karina Halle

Dirty Angels (Dirty Angels, #1)Dirty Angels by Karina Halle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3 to 3.5 stars!

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Sorry, Javier fans but I didn't love this one.

It could be because I had such high expectations of the book. Or maybe because Javier's character became too watered down that it's almost unrecognizable -- and this is coming from someone who've read only one book (On Every Street) from the Artists Trilogy -- or what. Honestly, I can't seem to put my finger on why this just didn't wow me but I will try.

I have to say, there were flashes of his ruthless personality and twisted sense of humor throughout the book but it was sparse and inconsistent. He was floundering especially when compared to Luisa's character who just outshone him in the badass department.

Don't get me wrong, I love a badass heroine but not to the point where she outshines the hero. And Luisa definitely did outshine Javier.

***Warning spoilers ahead***

The whole drug lord thing was laughable. I mean, this was a drug cartel but most of these guys were just holed up in their "hideout" twiddling their thumbs, playing medieval torture, and waiting. I would have been okay with waiting. But then he had absolutely no BACK-UP PLAN whatsoever if their original plan fails. And it did FAIL. In epic fashion, in fact. Luisa had to take up the slack and go back to her husband.

I had to wonder, how in the world did this guy became a drug lord again? And they way he asked the DEA for help? WTF? I wish he would have gone commando on Salvador's ass but he didn't.

Oh well. 


***End of spoilers***


But more than anything else, I was pretty bored and kept putting the book down. It wasn't until 65% or so did the story pick up. The first half was just Javier ruminating about his own ruthlessness and badassery. And I can't believe how many times I was reminded how stylish Javier was or what kind of jeans he's wearing, his suits,etc.

I did enjoy the tension between Este, the Doctor and Javier but for the most part, they were underutilized. The same can be said for Salvador. The torture scene helped a bit and the way Javier went about dispensing his own brand justice was great but for the most part

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Still an okay read and many Javier fans will doubtless love this book but I wasn't that impressed. Still 3 to 3.5 for me because of Luisa and the last 20% where the action really picked up. But the rest was a bit meh for me.

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15 June 2014

Release Day Blitz: Dirty Angels by Karina Hale

DirtyAngels
Title: Dirty Angels (Dirty Angels Trilogy #1)
Author: Karina Halle
Genre: Dark Romantic Suspense
Release Date: June 15, 2014
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Synopsis

dirty angels karina halle 
For Luisa Chavez, a twenty-three year old former beauty queen, a better life has always been just out of her reach. Sure, she’s had men at her feet since she was a young teenager but she’s never had the one thing she’s craved – security. Having grown up in near poverty, her waitressing job in Cabo San Lucas can barely let her take care of herself, let alone her ailing parents. Every day is another unwanted advance, every day is a struggle to survive.

When Salvador Reyes, the depraved leader of a major Mexican cartel, takes an interest in her, Luisa is presented with an opportunity she can’t afford to pass up. She’ll become Salvador’s wife and exchange her freedom and body for a life of riches – riches she can bestow upon her deserving parents. But Luisa quickly finds out that even the finest wines and jewels can’t undo the ugliness in her marriage, nor the never-ending violence that threatens her every move.

Soon, Luisa is looking for an escape, a way out of the carefully controlled life she’s leading. She finally gets her wish in the worst way possible.

As it is, being the wife of Salvador makes her an ideal target for rival cartels and there’s one particular man who needs Luisa as part of his cartel’s expansion. One particular man whose quest for power has destroyed lives, slit throats and gotten him out of an American prison. One particular man who will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants.

That man is Javier Bernal. And he wants Luisa. He wants to take her, keep her, ruin her.
Unless she ruins him first.

Amazon US | Amazon UK

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Excerpt:

“You’re a very dirty man.” “Filthy,” he corrected me. He smacked my ass lightly, causing me to jump. “Oh, that’s just fucking beautiful.” He did it again and again, not enough to hurt but enough to sting. Each time, he licked the place where his handprint would have been. Then, with one hand he gently pried my ass cheeks open. I couldn’t help but cringe. “You need to relax,” he whispered. “This won’t hurt. And I’m sure you took a bath this morning, didn’t you?” I murmured yes in response. “Then you’re clean and you have nothing to worry about. As for me, I’d take you anyway I can. It’s all exquisite to me.” He was right. He was filthy. “Relax, Luisa,” he said again. “Relax.” And so I tried. The first contact from his tongue made me shudder. The sensation was so entirely new to me, but what wasn’t at this point. Yet his mouth, lips, tongue, were all warm and wet and gentle and I found my body immediately relaxing into the steady motion. I pushed aside all thoughts about how impure this was. Purity had done nothing for me, anyway. It was better to be dirty. It was better to take what you could. It was better to embrace your lustful, needful, animalistic side because that was the side that lived.
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About the Author

Karina Halle
With her USA Today Bestselling The Artists Trilogy published by Grand Central Publishing, numerous foreign publication deals, and self-publishing success with her Experiment in Terror series, Vancouver-born Karina Halle is a true example of the term "Hybrid Author." Though her books showcase her love of all things dark, sexy and edgy, she's a closet romantic at heart and strives to give her characters a HEA...whenever possible.
Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she’s preparing for the zombie apocalypse with her fiance and rescue pup.
Facebook | Goodreads | Karina's Website | Twitter | Amazon Author Page
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