The Only One: A One Love Novella by Lauren Blakely

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“And when one of them meets the other half, the other half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other’s site, as I may say, even for a moment.” ~Plato

Maybe it’s because my favorite candies are caramels.

Maybe it’s because of soft spot for second-chance romances.

Maybe it’s because of my mad love for Lauren Blakely books.

No…not maybe at all…but YES!!! YES to the caramels! YES to this swoon-filled and soul-slaying second-chance romance! YES to another Lauren Blakely brilliant and blissful book! YES to The Only One YES! YES! YES!

There is something special about second-chance love that speaks to the soul. Two soulmates broken apart whose love has never died are granted a do-over…that coveted second chance. Their hearts, once sliced in half, find their way back to each other and become whole again. Second-chance love stories are my heart…my soul…my obsession; The Only One was my magic…my heart…my soul…my swoon…MY KRYPTONITE.

The Only One sparked to life as magic poured from the pages, shining in beauty and brilliance like a diamond. Oh that SPARK! The Only One had ALL OF THE SPARK…ALL OF HEART…ALL OF THE SOUL. All of MY heart. All of MY soul.

Ten years ago beautiful Penelope, Penny, met a gorgeous man, Gabriel, while traveling in Spain. They had a once-in-a-lifetime, passionate and powerful love affair with combustible chemistry and a connection of soul mates.

“My three-day love affair under the starry Spanish sky with the man who whispered sweet nothings in my ear while he played my body like a virtuoso piano isn’t getting a second act.”

Penny is reunited with her first and only love, Gabriel, through a chance meeting in New York when a work function brings them together. After a decade she is going to meet the man who still holds her heart.

“The twenty-four guy who dazzled me when I gave him my virginity a decade ago has nothing on this man in front of me. He’s as beautiful as a heartbreak.”

Oh beautiful is this man from inside out, and oh did Gabriel grab my heart and melt me from inside out! I LOVED GABRIEL SOOO MUCH!

“I have to believe in fate, too. Do you? Believe in fate?”

Oh Gabriel! His words were poetry that penetrated through my heart like Cupid’s arrows.

Gabriel sees the stunning woman in front of him who reminds him of his Penelope, the one he loved and lost when she left in Spain, the woman who still holds his heart.

There is no way Penny can resist Gabriel’s gorgeous looks, charm, sweetness, and passion. Feelings flow to the surface after being dormant for a decade.

“Perhaps the ice I had thought had encased my heart when it came to this man is breaking.”

Oh the angst that aired bled into this book with as much fervor as the love lingering in the air.

“My lips brush hers, and the world stills. For the briefest second, I don’t want to move. All I want to do is savor this sliver of time—this most perfect of moments when I kiss her again.”

That kiss! Small in size but HUGE in history and love, that KISS WAS EVERYTHING!!! It was the turning point of a renewed love affair of soul mates.

“My feet don’t touch the ground. Gravity has no hold on me. I’m floating, falling, gliding….his lips both wonderfully familiar and yet fantastically new.”

That kiss melted from the pages, penetrating that passion right to me as I felt it too. Those lifetime kisses that you know will lock you to love for life.

“I’m going to worship you. I’m going to adore you.”

“You already do.”

Oh. My. SWOON!!! My soul was slayed in the best way as The Only One owned it and me! I was breathless at the blossoming love between these soul mates, this love that lifted me up into the sky where I floated among the clouds.

As fast as the love was rekindled, the loss lingers, hurt hovering over Penny and Gabriel along with the past like a dark cloud. Trust was a traitor that threatened to invade their new found happiness.

“He leaves, and that frustration inside me explodes into hurt and sadness as I watch him walk away.”

My heart bled for Penny and for Gabriel. As the feelings of hurt and betrayal float through the air, chemistry also permeates with a passion. A passion that transports them both to their intense love affair years ago in Barcelona.

“Only him. It’s only ever been him.”

The Only One is THE ONE, the fairy tale that flutters in feels and dances in dreams, the one that caused me to FALL HARD IN LOVE. The Only One left me breathless in a brilliant and beautiful story that was love at first sight. Oh did this utterly romantic romance feel real.

The Only One has that special spark that made me feel butterflies as it shot stars in my eyes. I flew high on Cloud Nine to Swoon Land! The Only One is a magical and mesmerizing second-chance love story full of sweetness, swoon, and soul. Oh how I loved thee…SOOO MUCH!

The Only One is Lauren Blakely’s most romantic romance ever! PURE BOOK BLISS! The off-the-charts chemistry, the passion, the promise of more, the love that never died, the sweetness, the swoon, and heart and soul…The Only One was EVERYTHING!!! This passionate love affair of words was the only one for me! I’m still swimming in a sea of swoon where I want to wade longer in the bliss of this Blakely book.

★★★★★ brilliant and blissful kisses (because oh so romantic romance)

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From the New York Times bestselling author of THE SEXY ONE comes a romance about fate and second chances

Let’s say there was this guy. And he gave you the most mind-blowing night of sex in your life. And you never saw him again.
Until ten years later.
Now, it turns out he’s the ONLY ONE in all of Manhattan whose restaurant is available the night of my charity’s gala.
The trouble is, he doesn’t recognize me.
***
This woman I’m working with is so damn alluring. The first time I set eyes on her, I’m captivated and I can’t get her out of my mind. Even if it’s risky to tango with someone I’m working with, she’s a risk I’m willing to take.
The trouble is, she won’t give me the time of day.
But I’m determined to change that.

THE ONLY ONE is a standalone novella following characters first introduced in THE SEXY ONE (Gabriel) and WELL HUNG (Penny). 

************************************************************************

EXCERPT

The clock mocks me.

  As the minute hand ticks closer to eight in the evening, I wrack my brain to figure out if I got the time wrong. Maybe we picked two. Maybe he said ten. Maybe we’re meeting tomorrow.    

  My chest twists with a desperate anxiety as I toy with the band on my watch.

  But as the fountains of Lincoln Center dance higher under the waning light, I’m sadly certain there was no error in communication.

  The only error was one of judgment.

  Mine.

  Thinking he’d show.

  Drawing a deep, frustrated breath, I peer at my watch once more, then raise my face, searching the crowds that wander past the circular aquatic display at Manhattan’s epicenter for the performing arts. This fountain is so romantic; that’s why we chose it as the place to meet again.

  One week later.

  Foolishly I hunt for the amber eyes and dark wavy hair, for the lean, tall frame, for that mischievous grin that melts me every time.

  I listen for the sound of him amidst the melody of voices, wishing to hear his rise above the others, calling my name, apologizing in that sexy accent of his for being late.

  My God, Gabriel’s accent was a recipe for making a young woman weak in the knees. That was what he had done to me. The man melted me when I first met him last month in Barcelona at the tail end of my summer of travels across Europe.

  When I close my eyes and float back in time, I hear that delicious voice, just a hint of gravel in his tone, and a whole fleet of butterflies chase each other in my belly at the resurgence of that faraway romantic dream.

  I open my eyes, trying to blink away the inconvenient intrusion of memory. I should go. It’s clear he’s not coming tonight.

  But, just in case I mixed up the times, maybe I’ll give him one more minute. One more look.  

  One more scan of the crowd.

  I let the clock tick past eight.

  I still don’t see him.

  I’ve been here for more than two hours, sitting on the black marble edge of the fountain. Scouring the corners of Lincoln Center. Peering left, then right down Columbus. Circling, like an animal at a zoo—pathetic modern-day female waiting for male to stay true to his word.

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Womanizer by Katy Evans

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love cannot be forbidden. The more that flame is covered up, the hotter it burns. Love can always find a way. ~ Pyramus and Thisbe

When a Katy Evans book lands in my hot hands, I shut out the world because that book BECOMES MY WORLD. Nothing exists except Katy Evans’ words and me, words that I devour yet savor, words that penetrate straight through my heart like Cupid’s arrows, shooting sensations straight through me. Her brilliant and beautiful books are my love…my life.

I clutched this story with a bit of anxiety, adrenaline coursing through my veins, as I exited my everyday life and entered the world of the Womanizer. I knew that this last man standing in the trio of manwhores—the Womanizer—would cast a spell on me as the others did and claim me for life. Oh was I claimed; I swiftly succumbed to this story that slowly and smoothly seduced me. Womanizer just began and I already did not want it to end…ever.

Sigh. Smolder. Swoon. Sigh. Smolder. Swoon. Womanizer enticed me with a build-up of feels…a slow burn of smolder, swoon, and soul. I bled in angst. I burned in need. I was engulfed in flames, a fire that sparked into a full inferno. My appetite for these powerful and penetrating words could not be sated enough. Womanizer’s words WERE ALL THE THINGS that made me melt from inside out, shooting straight through my heart like Cupid’s arrows, sensations swimming around me.

Womanizer filled me with a heady mix of energy and emotion, an exhilaration that made me feel giddy and dizzy as if this story were my drug and I were the addict. Oh was Womanizer MY ADDICTION. Womanizer was the air that I needed to breathe…my oxygen…as every breath belonged to this book. THIS BOOK BECAME ME.

Oh Callan Carmichael. Tahoe Roth’s best friend and billionaire with a sexy, bad boy, James Dean look and vibe. Copper hair and golden eyes. Yummy facial scruff. Tall. Cut. Cocky. Complex. Intense. PURE PERFECTION.

“I can’t believe anything can be both this male and this perfect.”

Olivia Roth, Tahoe’s little sister, is interning at the company Callan owns. Beautiful, blonde, and brainy Olivia is out to prove that there is more to her than meets the eye and definitely not a dumb blonde, a stereotype that follows her and one that she uses as motivation to rock the business world.

A chance meeting on the terrace at work changes her life when she encounters the most sinfully sexy, cool, charming, and confident man who becomes Olivia’s confidant with chemistry between combustible. A man who happens to be Olivia’s boss.

“His lips capture mine, our tongues moving slowly to meet. It’s like two lightning bolts crashing…God. I’m being kissed from the inside out. His hunger only feeds mine.”

That kiss melted me from inside out. I felt the passion from Olivia and Callan penetrate me, owning these pages…owning me.

“Say you can handle what I’m about to do to you. Once I’m in, I’m owning every freckle I find….You’re coming so fast, so hard, and so very frequently tonight there won’t be a day that you come and not think of me.”

I. WAS. ON. FIRE. The heat set me ablaze, as I burned along with this sensual and seductive story. The forbidden fanned those flames of fire, sparking even more desire.

“I’m a full-time working girl and I can’t be Callan’s shiny new toy.”

Olivia will surrender her body, but not her heart as she won’t let this Womanizer hurt her or squash her plans for becoming a success businesswoman.

“I’m trying to do the right thing, but I’m not a good guy.”

For the first time in his life, Callan is wowed by a woman, one who is more just sex, and he can’t fight his addiction to Olivia who has turned his world upside down. His best friend’s sister is supposed to be forbidden, but temptation has never felt so right. He is torn between capturing his beautiful butterfly with whom he is falling in love and letting her spread her wings to fly.

I loved their fierce friendship that burned as bright as their intense chemistry. Friendship along with chemistry is the perfect beginning of a relationship, the substance, the build-up to love.

“I had my whole life planned out, and maybe Callan won’t change his spots for a girl—there’s a reason he’s the last man standing.”

This player may finally end the game as the prize is too good to resist.

“I’m a reasonable man. So why, when it comes to you, do I have no reason?”

Oh how I LOVED CALLAN. Tough and tender. Intense and irresistible. Complex and compassionate. Sweet and sexy. All man. ALL MINE.

“I know I can break. I know this can break me.”

Will Olivia let Callan into her heart or will this womanizer remain the last man standing?

Womanizer bleeds passion with heart and soul in an addictive and seductive, smoldering, and swoon-filled story of forbidden love. Oh did I smolder and swoon! Womanizer was the wind beneath my wings where I flew on an adrenaline and angst-filled ride. Womanizer was my addiction. My ache. My adrenaline. MY ALL. Womanizer twisted itself around every piece of me, quickly capturing me in its clutches. IT did not let go; I did not let go. I FELL FAST. I FELL HARD. I FELL IN LOVE WITH EVERYTHING WOMANIZER!

Katy Evans once again outdid herself in one UNPUTDOWNABLE, pulse-pounding, and pleasurable penned piece of PERFECTION!!! Weaving her magic into wondrous words that make you melt to mush, Katy is an artist and those pages are her canvas where she paints words to life. SO MUCH LIFE AND LOVE. OH DO I LOVE HER WORDS WITH EVERY BREATH I TAKE. Her beautiful, broken, and brilliant books bled into me….becoming me. Oh did Womanizer come to life!!!

Womanizer is the perfect end to the Manwhore series. The innocence…the angst…the explosive chemistry…the raw sexiness…the sweetness…the swoon…the fierce friendship…the forbidden element…ALL OF THE FEELS…EVERYTHING!!! Dizzying, dominant, and spine-tingling, Womanizer was my rush. This all-consuming, raw, and racy romance felt real, as it wrapped itself around my head and heart, relentlessly tugging and tearing, and never letting go. I don’t ever want to let go.

★★★★★ sweet and smoldering smokin’ stars

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From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katy Evans comes a brand new contemporary romance. WOMANIZER is a full standalone, and no other books in the series need to be read.

You’ve seen the headlines: Womanizing billionaire player! Watch out! Stay away!

We were just two strangers. Facing a forbidden attraction, a chemical connection. Neither of us expected or wanted it to amount to more.
But I had never been drawn to a guy the way I was drawn to this one: my brother’s best friend, and CEO of the company where I interned.
Even knowing I should stay away, I proved to be too human, after all.
The chemistry was amazing.
The laughs were incredible.
I opened up to him in more ways than I’d opened up to anyone before.
But sex was as far as I’d go.
Just sex because he was too irresistible.
Just sex because I wouldn’t be falling for him.
Just sex because I’d leave in three months, and I’d like for my brother not to kill me, and for nobody to find out he was my wicked little secret.
He wasn’t the One.
He was just a womanizer.
But for a time, he would be mine.

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Quinn Whitmore wanted nothing more than to get away and enjoy her trip to the mountains. It was a chance for her to get away, regroup and recharge. After her horrible breakup she needed this trip more than she could say. Her plan was to unplug from the world, her demanding job and her heartbreak. No cell phones, emails, texts… nothing but peace. To unplug.

She never expected her life to be turned upside down by an unexpected guest in the form of the sexy, sensuous rule breaker named Merritt Smith.

Their attraction is instantaneous. It’s obvious from their first meeting that they want each other. Badly. Still, Quinn is determined. Nothing serious… not for a very long time. If Merritt wants a week of no strings attached sex – and only earth scattering, mind altering, spine tingling sex – then they could have the week together. Merritt is determined to have her anyway and on every surface that he can have her. But things don’t always go as planned and soon a little bit of fun leads to a whole lot of something more. Quinn and Merritt endeavor to turn a fling into something true, something solid, something lasting that neither of them had ever experienced before.

Then in true LK Collins fashion comes the twist and turn that I never saw coming. I was immediately thrown back to LATCH and felt once again like I was falling into something that surely was not happening. Once again I had to step back from my device in an attempt not to throw it. Instead I flipped back, reread and then all I could really say was… WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE? LK has the innate ability to leave her readers so breathless, so angry but so unable to turn away. No way could I stop reading once twist began. I was all in for the ride until its delightful end.

Hot, steamy, twisty… Merritt can curl your toes with his dirty talk and delicious moves. Quinn is his match, giving just as good as she can get. Unplugged is another stellar story by one talented author. It seems with each story LK Collins is honing her craft, getting that much better. I am amazed that with each read, I fall more and more in love with her work and look forward to what she plans to give her readers next!

FANTASTIC!

5 Merritt is DIVINE stars!

 

From the moment I laid eyes on her, I was doomed.
Quinn Whitmore was unlike any other woman in the world.
She was it for me. That spark, that instant connection, became my sole purpose for breathing.
Her laugh would take over a room.
Her smile brought me to my knees.
And her body was…pure perfection.
When I met Quinn, she was fresh off a nasty breakup and had ruled out all men. She wanted to spend the week in the Rocky Mountains unplugged from the world, unwinding and focusing on herself.

So I decided to let it go.
But my mind wouldn’t.
Every thought suddenly became consumed with Quinn, and I knew I had to have her. So when she finally agreed to a week of just sex, no strings attached, I took the deal and ran. It would give me time to fuck my Quinn obsession out of my head.
But, man, was I wrong. A week wasn’t enough. A lifetime wouldn’t be enough.

The problem…Quinn was hiding a secret—a secret that would ruin my life. And ruin it she did.

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LK Collins is the naughty alter ego for the husband-and-wife duo behind multiple bestselling and international bestselling novels. This real life couple is down right dirty in the bedroom, which bleeds through the pages of their steaming hot smut stories. While LK writes the books, Mr. Collins, the tattooed God himself, is the mastermind behind so much of the page turning sexiness.

If you are looking for a scorching hot read with chemistry so hot it jumps off the pages, then an LK novel is for you. From a number of standalones to series, their stories will make you blush, pant, and want to reread them once you’ve finished. The heroes are alpha, demanding, filthy talking men, that will do anything for their girl…or to get them.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website: http://www.authorlkcollins.com

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Major Love, is a hot, humorous, heartbreaking read that pitched its way into my heart and simply won’t let go.

There is a reason Kate sits highly on my list of favourite authors. Kate’s books balance out in the most perfect ways, while invoking every emotion possible. 

In Major Love, Kate took me on a breathtaking ride through loss and pain, love and laughter. Multiple times, I found myself laughing hysterically then almost ugly crying. I found that my heart broke before it was glued back together in the most beautiful way. I also got VERY hot around the collar because WOAH! April and Andy are on FI-YAH! 

I’ve been desperately awaiting this book, Andy’s story, since finishing Anything But Minor. When I got it, I dropped EVERYTHING and dove in and my word I fell hard and fast! Kate brought everything to the table with Andy, she made him hot, raw and powerful but she also made him sweet and vulnerable. Andy lit a fire so deep inside me that I just couldn’t put out no matter how hard I tried. And as the book went on that fire blazed bigger and BIGGER. 

Matching Andy with April was genius. Seriously everything about the two of them was just SO RIGHT. From start to finish, Kate made them connectable, relatable, lovable. There was nothing fast about their love either, don’t get me wrong, it was there, the whole time and you could FEEL it so much but it builds slowly. It’s truly magnificent and it proves how fantastic Kate’s writing actually is. You will fall in love along with April and Andy. You’ll hurt with them, you’ll laugh with them. It’s honestly all so perfect! 

Kate definitely hit a home run with Major Love, a sports romance that blasted it’s way into my top reads of 2016 and will forever hold a special place my heart!

“I met her at an all-time low . . . the worst night of my life—a time I never wanted to remember.”

“It was a night I could never forget.”

“When it came to women, I swore I was done with wishful thinking. Ball and my coaching career were all that mattered.”

“I reminded him it wasn’t.”

“She was everything I was afraid of.”

“He was everything I’d ever wanted.”

“She was fire—an irresistible piece of southern heaven that I couldn’t stay away from.

“He was smoke that clouded me in every imaginable way.”

“And the sex . . .”

“Dear God, the sex . . .”

“I fell hard, and she gave me hell at every turn.”

“I made a promise I was hell bent on keeping.”

“And you kept it.”

“Hell yes I did.”

“Fuckin’ A.”

This is a SPORTS ROMANCE and can be read as a stand alone.

⚾ FREE on Kindle Unlimited ⚾️

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Read the entire Balls in Play Series on Kindle Unlimited

⚾️Anything but Minor⚾️

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