We Said Forever by Marie James

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What is meant to be will always find its way.

The giddy delight I get when I meet a new or new-to-me author’s words is BOOKWORM BLISS! That rush during that initial read is off-the-charts incredible! I just popped my Marie James book cherry that was more of an explosion because HOLY EMOTIONS!!! We Said Forever is heartwarming and heart-wrenching, a hard-fought love story, the kind that stays with you forever.

The We Said Forever Prologue broke my heart, sending it and me into a black hole in a story that sank into my soul from the start. I knew that this story would break me, and that it did. We Said Forever BROKE ME in the best way!

This tale of a fallen football star and the studious beauty beckoned me, these two opposites that attracted in every way. The blond, blue-eyed muscular, Thor-looking Blaze and the dark-haired and dark-eyed beauty with lush curves, Fallyn, were nothing alike and apart but everything together. 

“I’m going to kiss you every time I see you. Before you can even utter a word or try to push me away, my lips will be on yours. As many times as I takes, until you realize you’re mine.”

HOLY HELL!!! Hot Blaze kisses Fallyn senseless. He kisses her until she cooperates. He kisses her with everything he has because she is everything to him as he is to her. Their chemistry is combustible, their passion perhaps powered by fate.

Blaze made me BURN!!! A fire lit inside of me by his smoldering kisses and words while this broken boy-inside-a-man’s heart called to me. I WAS HIS!!! 

“You’re the only one I see.”

Fallyn sees the heart beating inside the broken man. Fallyn sees the real Blaze. This fallen alpha is possessive and passionate, and oh did Blaze POSSESS me!!! I was owned by this devastatingly beautiful and broken hero, Blaze. I was OWNED by We Said Forever.

The push and the pull built me up and then tore me down. Heartbreak…hope…happiness rotated like a Russian roulette wheel. The angst bled over the pages, bleeding over me, and I LOVED every tortuous and tender minute! I LOVED We Said Forever, so brilliant, broken, and beautiful.

Blaze is wading in a sea of sorrow, drowning the pain of his past with pills, depression in full swing. Can the beautiful angel save the beautiful man with the devil dancing inside his heart and stealing his soul? The man who doesn’t think he deserves love is the one who needs love the most. 

“No one can love me.”

This broken and beautiful book gripped and GUTTED me, so intense and intoxicating that my emotions took over where I could do nothing but FEEL!!! I felt every word in We Said Forever. I FELT EVERYTHING!!! My heart was ripped out of my chest yet my soul swooned in a romance that touched every part of me. We Said Forever is a tale I will feel forever.

“Are you my Beauty?” I ask.

She bites the corner of her bottom lip.

“Are you my Beast?”

★★★★★ Forever Stars

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Rock bottom.

They say the only way to go from there is up, but what is “up” when you’re born into someone else’s rock bottom?

At ten, football became my first love. It’s what got me out of the house away from my self-destructive family. My love for football landed me at Las Vegas University with a full ride scholarship, and the orange on my jersey was my favorite color…until my eyes landed on the red dress Fallyn wore the night we met.

At twenty-one, I jumped off the cliff into the unknown the second Fallyn McIntyre danced in my arms at a party. I had the greatest girl in the world and the opportunity to play college ball every Saturday. My rock bottom was looking up, thanks to my two first loves.

Parties, sex, and football—life was perfect. But one drink too many, and my world came crashing down. When I chose pills over my second love, my head told me it was the best decision I ever made. The pills keep me warm and protect me from the distance Fallyn created. Percs don’t judge me. They make me feel alive.

Threes.

They say the best things come in threes, but one leads to a stable future, one is my salvation, and the other drags me to hell—a hell I’d willingly burn in for eternity…if it weren’t for my second love.  

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Marie James: I’m a full-time, working mother of two boys and wife of 12 years. I’ve spent almost my entire lifetime living in central Texas, with only short stays in South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. I’ve always wanted to write novels and just recently had the gumption to sit down and start one. My passions include reading everything under the sun and plotting out new books to write in the future.

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Blackbird by Molly McAdams

My rating: 6 of 5 stars

The devil is not as black as he is painted.

Molly McAdams painted her latest book in black with the deliciously dark romance, Blackbird. I went into this battle of feels blindly, this book delivering darkness like raindrops from the sky. No pep talk or words of wisdom would have helped me walk through the pits of hell where the devil reigned, where I could only pray for a sliver of sunshine. All I could do was dive in and silently beg for mercy on my emotions, hoping they would stay at bay.

After the Prologue, I had to wonder: “What are you doing to me, Molly McAdams?!?”

Blackbird is a dark and devastatingly beautiful book of love and loss that will render you broken and breathless, bringing you to your knees! Painted in the blackest of blacks, Blackbird is a love story submerged in splendor and sorrow that sings to the soul. Nothing could have prepared me for the SHATTERING OF MY SOUL that Blackbird rendered…NOTHING. Oh did my soul shatter and sing!!!

Sing, as my soul did to the bittersweet Beetles tune of Blackbird that haunted my head while reading:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night.
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life.
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly. Into the light of the dark black night.

The Prologue struck me hard, barreling down on my heart like a thousand winds, terrifying yet thrilling me. My emotions engulfed me, rendering me breathless, powerless to the feels that flooded me like a storm. This battle was one of feels; a fight I would not win. A fight I did not want to win. I knew this little Blackbird would break me, and break me it did. Blackbird BROKE ME IN THE BEST WAY!!! 

I was forced into a world I’d been blind to and came face to face with the devil. A man cloaked in darkness—a man who would set me free. A man hidden in a world I vowed to destroy with him by my side.

Gorgeous with dark hair and dark eyes, a tall and muscular body adorned in ink, Lucas Holt was a devil in a dark world, sucked into it not by choice but by circumstance.

Briar Chapman was a blonde and green-eyed beauty who looked both alluring and angelic.

Dark collided with light as Briar was taken, kidnapped and sold to the devil, Lucas, at an auction. 

“The devil will never own me.”

“We’ll see.”

Blackbird, so devastatingly dark yet breathtakingly beautiful, OWNED EVERY OUNCE OF ME!!! 

She had called me the devil, and I felt like it after tonight.

This devil and dark knight set my heart on fire. I bled for this destroyed devil. Lucas, so broken yet beautiful, GUTTED ME!!! I had to catch my tears as I willed them not to fall. Tears that teased the dam of waterworks waiting to burst from the words that seized my soul, extracting every emotion. Beckoning me. Binding me. Breaking me. Becoming me.

..His touch shouldn’t steal my breath. But it did.

Blackbird stole my breath. I was BREATHLESS!!! My breathing was bated. My pulse pounded. My heart leapt out of my chest.

The chemistry between these two strangers is undeniable…fire-hot…a slow burn. Passion permeates from a mere look. Lucas and Briar have a shared bond that neither can grasp nor get. 

“You’re beautiful, Briar.”

My body was on fire while my heart bled. This devil BURNED ME, melting me into molten lava!!! This devil DEMOLISHED ME!!! Lucas made me SMOLDER and SWOON!!! I LOVED this dark avenger, this complex man!!! Intense and intoxicating, Lucas is a force of darkness and Briar is the light. The devil and the angel, and angel’s whose sunlight he can’t help but absorb. 

“You can hate me all you want. I’ll always hate myself more.”

The heart I tried to freeze to stay strong in this story shattered so many times. I thought I was already broken, but I BROKE SOME MORE. 

“This was dancing with the devil and attempting to come out unscathed.”

I did not leave this story unscathed. I was SHREDDED TO PIECES!!! Blackbird hijacked my heart and stole my soul like a thief in the night! The spellbinding and spine-tingling Blackbird tore my heart open that lay bleeding, shook my soul that screamed for mercy, grabbed my gut that was unglued, and hit me so hard that my emotions bled long after the story was over. My tears bled all over my face, bleeding for words that penetrated through me like knives, slicing open my soul that was bared to this book.

This book that bared its soul to me is both a top February and 2017 read. Dark romance fits Molly McAdams like a glove, so PERFECT! UTTER BOOK BLISS!!! Molly McAdams writes from the heart and you can tell her heart is poured into every beautiful and brilliant word. Her heartfelt writing hits my heart hard like a hurricane EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. EVERY WORD MATTERS. Meaningful. Mesmerizing. Magnificent.

Oh did Blackbird with its simple title MEAN THE WORLD! This is a tale of ALL OF THE FEELS: heart-stopping love, heartbreak, healing, and happiness. I still feel this love story flowing through me!!! I’m still BARE, BROKEN, and BREATHLESS!!! I’m still GASPING FOR AIR with TEARS etched in my eyes from this stunning and shattering story.

This little bird chirped to my heart and chipped away at my soul. My emotions are still entangled around this Blackbird. Blackbird WRECKED ME in the worst way yet BROKE ME in the best way. Blackbird made me fly to the darkest dark and to the lightest light. I’m still flying, UNEQUIVOCALLY IN LOVE, as Blackbird OWNS ME FOR LIFE.

“You can’t attempt to touch me with your light and not expect me to darken your soul. I’ll always try to consume your light just as you’ll always try to consume my dark. It’s who we are, but it won’t change who we are. It’s those pieces of colliding that make us incredible.”

★★★★★★ devastatingly beautiful stars  

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From New York Times bestselling author Molly McAdams comes a powerhouse romantic suspense that will have you questioning your morals and second guessing your view on love.

I live in a world few know exist. I’ve trained for this. I know what to say, what to do, and how to act. I’ve perfected the lethal calm required for this life.
Now it’s time to buy my first girl. But all it takes is one look at the brave girl who starts singing mid-auction for that calm to slip.

Briar Chapman is going to be the death of me, and I don’t care. I’ll take every day with her until that death comes, and I’ll welcome it when it does.

On the outside, Lucas Holt is what nightmares are made of. A man cloaked in darkness, with sin-filled eyes and an enticing grin. A devil so devastatingly beautiful and cruel that his very presence instills fear.

But beneath his terrifying, ever-calm exterior is an affectionate man haunted by a past that refuses to stay buried. And Lucas looks at me as though he’s finally found the only person who can make it all go away.

We’re a battle of the brightest day and the darkest night—and I want to lie in the wake of our war.

She closed the distance between us, each step slow and calculated. Once she was close enough, I slid one hand around her waist and the other around the back of her neck, using her hair to tilt her head back so I could study those eyes that captivated me.

“I hate that you have so much money that you buy women. I hate that you bought me at all, but mostly that you bought me because I started singing. I hate the circumstances that brought me to you, but I love you and am thankful I’m here with you all the same.”

My chest ached and filled with warmth. I wanted to kiss her and thank her for trusting me with her past. I wanted to erase every bad memory and replace them with ones of us now, but she didn’t realize what she’d just said . . .

As much as I wanted what she was saying to be true, it wasn’t, and it never would be. It couldn’t.

“You don’t,” I said thickly, forcing the words out through the tightness in my throat.

Confusion covered her face and her brows drew together. “I don’t what?”

“You don’t love me.”

I felt the shock that went through her body, but she didn’t try to pull away from me. Instead, she gripped my shirt in her hands like she was pleading with me in her touch alone.

“Lucas . . .”

My eyes slid shut, and I released a slow, weighted breath. “You don’t, Briar.”

“I know you think you don’t know how to love someone, but you do, you have been. You know what love is, and I have never been more aware of how loved I am by someone than I am by you.”

I ground my jaw and finally looked at her again. Instead of disagreeing with her, I said, “You can’t love me, because you don’t know me.”

I hated the hurt in her eyes. I hated that I was putting it there. I hated everything I was, hated that I would never be enough for the girl I didn’t know how to let go of. Couldn’t let go of.

“Yes, I do,” she choked out. “I’ve seen it, I’ve felt it, I’ve experienced your darkness and your monsters, and I’m still here. Haven’t I proven myself yet? Haven’t I proven I am not going anywhere? That you can’t make me run?” Her gripping hands flattened and moved up to curve around my neck. “I knew to fall in love with you I had to fall in love with the devil, too. I am not as naïve as you think I am.”

“But you have no idea exactly how heartless your devil is,” I said darkly.

“Then let me see—”

“I won’t let you into that part of my world,” I said on a growl. Just the thought of her being in a situation to see me like that—to see that part of my world—chilled me in a way that made me feel sick. “All of thiswill change the minute you see it. Trust me when I say you’ll never be able to look at me the same, and I won’t be able to live with myself if that day ever comes.”

“You can’t know that,” she argued, her words still sounding like a plea.

“Think of your worst memories with me, Blackbird,” I ordered gently. “Think of what I told you about the shootout with my brothers. Think about what William did to you. Now try to grasp that all of that is nothing compared to what I have done, and what I do, without feeling a thing.”

I waited for it to sink in, and after a few moments, it did. And there was that look in her eyes I’d come to dread and hate—fear and uncertainty. But I could still see her love for me.

Unfailing and undeserving.

“Didn’t you hear me the first time?” she finally asked as tears filled her eyes. “The darkest part of your soul terrifies me, but, Lucas, I’m not going anywhere.”

A MUST ONE-CLICK —>

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It All Falls Down by M. Dauphin 

4.5 hot & heavy stars!

Can I begin this review by saying.. OH MY PANTY BURNING HOTNESS. LOL. Seriously, It All Falls Down is crazy hot, like burny, burny hot. Max & Nora literally sizzle their way through this book. 

Connection is there. And it’s HOT.

Chemistry is there. And it’s HOT.

Tension is there. Annnnnnd it’s HOT! 

I kid you not, this is not a book you should read, unless you’re alone. TWO WORDS… Hotel Room. *wipes brow* 

Once we get past all the hotness talk though, what we have with It All Falls Down is an incredibly sweet, swoony, beautiful romance, that made my heart pitter patter on many occasions. 

Nora & Max are a stunning couple. His bad with her good mixed together perfectly. Despite the initial meet being a quick, hot ride, what transpires afterwards was a stroke of genius. M. Dauphin brings them back together so fluidly thus beginning that searing connection, that you cannot help but feel. 

My heart broke a little for these characters and mannnnn, I wanted to shake them, just to clear their vision but Dauphin does it in her own way, she paves their path back to one another perfectly and it was a joy to read.

It All Falls Down is a beautiful, breathtaking romance, that sizzles and burns and just leaves you with all those wonderful bookish feels!

He promised he’d never leave. He should have told me. I could have helped. Max came into my life when I didn’t need a man to define me. He didn’t push his way in… not really. He slowly, tirelessly, and patiently waited. He used that damn smile, day in and day out, and waited until I tumbled head over heels in love with him. 

My grandma always told me to watch out for the pretty boys. The ones that turn you to mush the first time you lay eyes on them. She never warned me about Maxwell Holzer. If there’s one thing in life I’ve always known, it’s that when something goes up, it will most certainly always come crashing down.

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Royal Scandal by Marquita Valentine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Every once in a while, in the middle of our ordinary lives, love gives us a fairy tale.”

I’ve loved fairy tales since I was a little girl—from Cinderella to Beauty in the Beast to modern romances that feel like fairy tales. Fairy tales are just…SIGH…magical and mesmerizing. These magical stories transport me to a wonderful fantasy world that sometimes feels very raw and real. Royal Scandal by Marquita Valentine is a feel-good, friends-to-lovers fairy tale of a romance dipped in suspense that will make your heart dance!

Royal Scandal enraptured and ensnared me from the start, this slow burn of a book with more sweetness than steam became my obsession. This fairy tale twisted itself around all of me. It did not let go; I did not let go. Royal Scandal with its sweet and spicy story along with a fusion of Southern sass and charming Brit demeanor was the magical mixture for a moving romance.

Crown Prince Colin Sinclair is tall, green-eyed, dark-haired, and handsome with a caring personality, delicious body and dirty-talking mouth. He puts his family first even over his love life. Until he stumbled upon the beautiful, red-haired and blue-eyed, Della Hughes, the caretaker and housekeeper of his new American estate of which he and his family fled from his British country under exile.

At just seventeen when he fled his country to America, Colin felt a connection to the fifteen year-old Della, a spark when she challenged him immediately.

“I feel as if I’ve found a kindred soul in her.”

Colin and Della became fast friends, though fighting the chemistry that loomed between them for ten long years. Ten years until Colin’s exile may be lifted if he claims a bride. To Colin, that would be heaven to finally get his hands on forbidden territory, jump out of that friend zone into more. 

“Della. My best friend. The woman of my dreams. Forever off-limits…until now.”

Colin has to convince Della to become his bride, to possibly toss friendship aside for more. Maybe Della wants Colin as much as he does her.

“My head is inundated with her image, of all the ways I want to have her. The hundreds of ways I want to kiss every inch of her body. Make her mine in every way possible.”

Oh was Colin Mr. Prince Charm-the-Panties off of me. Della is one lucky lady! I want to suddenly be the Cinderella to this perfect prince.

“We’re friends and friends don’t sleep together.”

Della will do anything for her best friend, Colin, including marrying him but in name only. Though their platonic plans become a challenge when the combustible chemistry surrounds them like the air they breathe.

“I don’t think I need to show you how hard I am for you…unless you don’t believe me and need to investigate for yourself.”

“I believe you.”

“Too bad because I would look forward to your inspection.”

Colin is royally endowed and his package may be as irresistible as his passion and charm for Della.

“He wants me and I want him, and there’s nothing to stop either of us.”

Della falls into the rabbit hole, completely smitten by the oh-so-persuasive Prince. The passion between that has built for ten years is about to burst, friendship caught on fire ready to blaze into an inferno. Feelings of more than friendship are forming, but Della is holding back, afraid that her happily-ever-after is not in the cards.

“Colin, don’t you get it? Stuff like this doesn’t happen in the real world. Happily ever afters for a maid and a prince—seriously? That’s Disney magic.”

Colin is hiding a secret or more that could be scandalous. Couple that with Della who doesn’t believe in happily-ever-afters or fairy tales and this prince may have a tough time convincing his bride-in-name to become his forever princess.

“Are you saying you want this to be real?”

“It’s already real. I want this to be forever.”

Royal Scandal is a Cinderella tale where Prince Charming is as sweet as pie and his princess is all sass. This friends-to-lovers love story sank itself into me, sprinkling fairy dust over the pages, where I was covered in a delicious concoction of sweetness and smolder. This magical fairy tale melted me from head to toe.

I had love in my heart and stars in my eyes while devouring Royal Scandal. A dash of romance, a splash of suspense, and a heap of heart make this modern-day Cinderella story a must-read! So royally good!

★★★★ royally good stars

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Fairy tales do come true—and so do tabloid scandals! Bestselling author Marquita Valentine kicks off a juicy contemporary romance series with a novel about a prince whose best-laid plans go deliciously awry when he marries the maid next door.

Forced to flee to the United States with his siblings after their parents’ assassination, Crown Prince Colin Sinclair takes it upon himself to become the caretaker of his family while hiding out near Charlotte, North Carolina. But after a decade in hiding, the secret’s out and Parliament demands that Colin wed a princess of their choosing. Unwilling to play their game, Colin decides to marry an American instead, and he has the perfect candidate in mind.

As a home-service professional, Della Hughes doesn’t believe in storybook endings. But when her best friend and secret crush reveals that he’s a flesh-and-blood prince, she doesn’t know what to think. Still, she’ll do anything for Colin, including becoming his wife—in name only, of course. But when their plans to stay purely platonic go by the wayside, their fake honeymoon turns all too real. After a week of white-hot nights, Della can

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Marquita Valentine is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Holland Springs and Boys of the South series.

Since first taking the plunge in July of 2012 to self publish, Marquita Valentine has appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling Ebooks Lists on iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes&Noble. She’s been called “one of the best new voices in romance” (Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews) and her books have been accused of being “a sexy, fun, and slightly addicting contemporary read” (The Book Queen).

When she’s not writing sexy heroes who adore their sassy heroines, she enjoys shopping, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. Married to her high school sweetheart, Marquita lives in a seriously small town in the south with her husband, two kids, and a dog.

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It Started with a Kiss by Melanie Moreland

All it took was a Kiss. Just one kiss. Melanie Moreland’s next release, It Started with a Kiss is a fast paced, sweet and sexy romance.

Melanie’s writing is incredibly strong, her ability to pull a reader into a story is fantastic. Her words flow freely and keep me happily captivated throughout her books.

It Started with a kiss, literally starts with a Kiss. What transpires from that one kiss is incredibly fast moving. Daniel and Avery moved quicker than a burning fire, and just as hot.
For me, at times, I found it a struggle to fully connect to their relationship and them individually, while I understood the Insta-love aspect I’d still have liked to feel it. As the book progressed and Daniel and Avery’s relationship was expanded I felt it a little more but I’d have liked more of those “get to know you moments”.

Without a doubt, Daniel was ridiculously hot and his penchant for nailing Avery to a wall, literally, had my insides burning. His dirty yet sweet mouth, definitely gave me tingles.

Overall at its core, It Started with a Kiss is a beautiful, captivating love story. If you love insta-love stories this story will be PERFECT for you.

It started with a kiss.
Then it became so much more.
Love at first sight.
Avery Connor doesn’t believe in it.
But what about love at first kiss?
A favor for a friend. Kiss a stranger and walk away.
But what if that favor, and that stranger, prove to be the turning point of her life?
What if that kiss leads to something more?
Dr. Daniel Stewart is certain it will.
He is determined to make her see him. To feel what he feels.
To have the effects of that kiss last forever.
A story about taking a chance, opening your heart to the moment, and falling in love.

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Safe Bet by Monica Murphy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The best love story is when you fall in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time.

Love found me in the sweet, sexy, and spellbinding sports romance, Safe Bet, by Monica Murphy. I lost myself in this Safe Bet, a romantic tale that hit my heart like a fast-thrown pass and made my soul swoon like a sappy smile. Safe Bet caught me like a football and claimed like a touchdown. The tender and touching tale grabbed me from the start, wrapping itself around my heart, where I did not want to surface for air until the very end.

Beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed, and curvy Sydney Walker can’t afford to compromise her first job ever, nanny for the family of San Francisco Forty-Niners famous quarterback, Drew Callihan. Even if his friend, Wade, is easy on the eyes and easy to talk to…easy to like…but hard not to lust after with that body of a sculpted god.

I fell in insta-love with Wade Knox, Wide Receiver for the San Francisco Forty-Niners, with his dark hair, dark eyes, tall and muscular body, dirty mouth, and charming personality. Oh was he the perfect catch. ALL ALPHA. PURE PERFECTION!

Sydney’s new life is perfect, she is finally making something of herself as she’s a good nanny to two adorable children, loves the family, and the hordes of football player hotness that parade through the house like a pageant of players. Then the media mistakes her for having an affair with her boss, Drew. Sydney and the Callihans need a quick distraction…a fake boyfriend. What better man to fake Sydney’s week-long date than the Callihan’s family friend, Wade, and hot player she’s been eye stalking for weeks?

“The man has such a perfect body he probably makes angels weep with joy.”

Wade is up for the challenge too. Pretending to be the boyfriend of the Callihan’s hot nanny is cake; there is no pretending the attraction he has for the hot blonde. No problem at all.

“She has pretty blue eyes and a full mouth that’s made for kissing.”

One week to fake it until they make it or convince the media that what Sydney and Wade have is real.

“Can we really pull this off? Can we really convince the media—the world—that we’re madly in love and only have eyes for each other?”

The chemistry is electric so no faking that part. A week of pretend, and then back to normal.

“I silence her. With my lips. And holy hell, this girl tastes like absolute heaven, just like I knew she would.”

There is nothing fake about Sydney and Wade’s chemistry that is electric like the buzz in the air during a sold-out football game. A slow burn sizzled through the story as the build-up brought on butterflies that fluttered with feels, my heart fluttering too. Wade and Sydney’s passion pounded from the pages straight to me. Oh did I FEEL THAT RUSH!

“His smile is big and aimed right at me…that smile rivals a thousand bright suns and makes me weak.”

Oh. My. SWOON. The sweetness oozed off the pages straight to my heart.

“She’s imprinted herself all over me.”

This story, Safe Bet, imprinted itself all over me…stamping itself into my soul and hurling itself into my heart.

“I matter to him.”

Lines are blurred. Feelings are forming. What begins as a game starts to become and feel real.

“We’re in a fake relationship. This is all…bogus. So why doesn’t it feel bogus?”

Safe Bet is sugar and spice, and everything nice. I SWOONED HARD, my soul soared high, and my heart was hit like a football over this sweet and smoldering story. I LOVED this raw, romantic, and refreshingly real read! Monica Murphy dropped a tender and terrific touchdown of a romance with Safe Bet, a blissful book that I tackled hard like a football. It’s a safe bet that readers will fall in love with this romance.

★★★★ tender terrific touchdown stars 

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Sydney Walker’s new job is perfect. As the live-in nanny to the most famous quarterback in the NFL and his beautiful wife, she couldn’t have it any better. Their kids are adorable. Her bosses are more than generous. Plus, there are hot football players at the house all the time. Life can’t get much better than this.

Until her life turns into an absolute nightmare. The media is abuzz with rumors that she and her boss Drew Callahan are having a torrid affair. Everyone knows the truth—except the public. So Drew’s wife Fable comes up with the perfect idea.

She creates a fake relationship between Sydney and one of the rookie players on Drew’s team. Wade Knox is forever indebted to Drew and Fable and readily agrees to the set up. Pretending to be in a romantic relationship with the hot nanny for a week—how hard can it be?

Crazy how it only takes one week for two people to fall head over heels in love…

(This mash-up new adult romance features characters from both the One Week Girlfriend series and The Rules series.)

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2j3AviO

iBooks: http://apple.co/1UmRqrX

B&N: http://bit.ly/2eDwVcK

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2e4OnWL

Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2eXAKYn

Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2e4N5LG

Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.

She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she’s not writing, she’s reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She’s a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

Connect with Monica:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MonicaMurphyauthor/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5934418.Monica_Murphy

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1YUl0Vm

Website: http://monicamurphyauthor.com

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/IW5U0y

Website ➜ http://www.bookaliciousbabes.com

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Annnnnnd the crowd goes WILD! The crowd being me because I’ve finished Hail Mary and I think I’m having some pretty big feelings for this book. 

Nicola Rendell has once again taken romance and BLOWN IT UP. She has once again put a spin on everything we know and love and made it better. More intense. More passionate. Just MORE. Nicola is an enigma. I have no idea where she sprung from back when she released Professed but HOLY WOW this woman is a writing goddess and I’ll happily bathe in all her wordy magic. Nicola is a true diamond and story telling GENIUS. I honestly don’t have enough praise for the woman. She gets it ALL. I instantly fell in love with Hail Mary. It immediately became one of my top reads of 2016 and I COULD NOT put it down. It infiltrated itself so bloody deep. From the indestructible sexual tension that just BLEEDS from this book, to the breathtaking romance, to the devastation that pulled at my heartstrings, I was 100% IN. Nothing was going to stop me devouring this book. Even Frankie Knuckles has wedged himself into my heart.

TINGLES!

Jimmy Falconi, ruthless, raw and powerful but so damn passionate and beautiful. The man made me all tingly. He sent my emotions CRAZY. I was ALL over this beautiful specimen. He rendered me speechless, left me breathless and made my heart skip a beat. 

And Mary. OMG! High five Nicola Rendell. You wrote one amazing, sassy heroine that I would LOVE to be besties with. 

From beginning to end Hail Mary oozed beauty and passion. Five stars just doesn’t cut it.. this was the touchdown of all touchdowns!!

A funny, naughty, dirty *standalone* sports romance…

At a boxing gym in Chicago, Mary Monahan accidentally knocks out the most handsome man she’s ever met. After she wakes him up with a few slaps and some smelling salts, the very first thing he does is ask her out for ribs and beer. His name is Jimmy. He looks like a Gillette model. And he’s just too hunky to resist.

Jimmy “The Falcon” Falconi is mystified that Mary has absolutely no idea who he is. Mystified and refreshed. He is, after all, not your everyday NFL quarterback. He shops at Costco, has a soft spot for Pinterest, and is in the midst of an epic losing streak.

Jimmy falls for Mary fast and hard, the way he does everything—balls out and like it’s fourth and long. And he realizes he’s finally met his match. That stamina he’s so proud of? Doesn’t stand a chance against her Kegels.

But what they don’t know is she’s also his new physical therapist, recently hired by the Bears to work on his rotator cuff…and groin injury. If she can’t help him, he’ll be traded faster than they can say “offensive penetration.”

In spite of the thousands of internet memes featuring Jimmy’s face with captions like: “HEY GIRL, WANT TO TOUCH MY BALLS?” Mary finds herself falling for him and his unrelenting desire to make her his.

Until a toddler shows up at Jimmy’s door.

And throws their lives into total chaos.

To the reader: Sweet. Safe. HEA. This is a comedy that gets very dirty, so be advised. Other tasters’ notes: Hints of honey and champagne. And a feisty little dog named Frankie Knuckles.

• Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2gM79EZ

• Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2gz7mbR

• Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2g70Ydw

• Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2g6UNpG

• iBooks: http://apple.co/2dfBLIL

• B&N: http://bit.ly/2fbcTXk

• Kobo: http://bit.ly/2eGVsgH

• Add it to your TBR:

http://bit.ly/HailMaryGR

After We Fall by Melanie Harlow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What if I fall? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly? ~Erin Hansen

I fell in love with Melanie Harlow’s latest sensation, After We Fall, by just reading the synopsis. I had not even sunk myself into story and I KNEW it would be a heart-thrashing hit. Cowboy…OH YES for this Southern gal. Ex-Army soldier…DOUBLE YES for this Army wife. Brooding, hot, muscular, rugged alpha…YES, YES, YES! SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!

After We Fall held me in its clutches, quickly captivating and claiming me in one utterly UNPUTDOWNABLE tale. I was at this story’s mercy, needing to sink myself so deeply into After We Fall that I never wanted to surface for air. This heartbreaking yet heartwarming story stole my breath where I was drowning to breathe.

My emotions were engulfed by this beautiful yet broken book, feels flowing all over the pages. Chills ran through me. My breaths were bated. My pulse raced. My heart shattered. I felt every word I read. After We Fall was my adrenaline…my anguish…my ache…my addiction. I WAS ALL IN.

Gorgeous and brooding cowboy, Jack Valentini, wants nothing to do with the beautiful blonde and blue-eyed Margot ‘Barbie’ Lewiston who is bringing some much-needed PR expertise to his family’s struggling farm. This rich gal is an annoyance and he doesn’t want any more changes in his already devastating life.

“I’d already met the love of my life…I’d married her, and I’d lost her…There was no second chance.”

I wanted to wrap up Jack in a huge hug. My heart bled for this cowboy who suffered a great loss and is still stuck in the darkness. The closed-off alpha reveals a peek of his big heart and Margot can’t help but become enamored by this complex cowboy.

“Someone who loved like that had to have a big heart, even if it was buried beneath prickly layers of grief and bitterness. I’d give him another chance.”

Margot is smart, funny, and beautiful inside and out…I loved her! The sweet and sassy woman wants to get to know the gorgeous, annoying, and tender-hearted man who gets under her skin.

Jack wants to ignore the first woman since his late wife to invade his head and heat his body that’s been in hibernation for three years but the magnetic force between Margot and him is too powerful to ignore.

“I knew what I was going to do before I did it. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew I’d regret it. And I still did it…I kissed her…Our tongues met and I tasted her hungrily, like I’d never get enough…sweet and forbidden.”

The chemistry burns bright between Margot and Jack, a forbidden flame that fights to ignite, so hard to resist. Oh did I love their angst that bled all over the pages!

“He was kissing me like I’d never been kissed before. Like he was going to war.”

Margot awakened a sleeping bear in Jack that had been hibernating too long, years since a mere kiss.

“Her lips on mine felt like rain after a drought.”

The beauty bathed in heat in these words that melted me to molten lava, my feels flowing all over the pages. Swoon and sadness sent me over the edge. The passion poured off the pages, the pent-up tension a dam ready to burst. I was that dam too, my feelings bursting and bleeding too.

This country boy made me swoon! His sexy, seductive, sad, and soul-filled words made me sink under his spell. This tender and troubled, and soulful and swoony alpha held my heart in his hands. Oh did I love Cowboy Jack! PURE PERFECTION.

“I wanted to admit my guilt. Open my wounds. Bleed for her.”

Margot is the beautiful angel who brings light to this broken and handsome cowboy. They are the perfect mix of dark and light, heat and cold, and city gal and country guy. Opposites attract but the storm of the past may be a stronger force than love.

“Everything was bare to her now, all my secrets, all my suffering, all my scars. And she still wanted me. I felt myself falling…I had no right. No right.”

After We Fall is not simply a broken and beautiful romance; it’s a story about heartbreak, hope, and happiness. It’s a story about LIFE AND LIVING. It’s about overcoming tragedy…taking that leap of faith…living for the moment…living life now.

The inner dialogue that is a consistent Harlow fixture in all of this author’s work is the icing on the cake in her creations, bringing realism and depth to already amazing stories. With every tale that Melanie Harlow writes, there is more heart and soul poured into each one…more emotion…more everything. EVERY WORD MEANT EVERYTHING that Melanie Harlow penned to life in After We Fall, Harlow’s most heartfelt masterpiece and BEST BOOK EVER.

This magical mix of heart, heat, and humor in After We Fall, this shattering and soul-searing story of love and loss, was my EVERYTHING!!! Oh did I FALL HARD for After We Fall, this breathtakingly beautiful tale of hard-fought love that rendered me breathless. After We Fall BLEW ME AWAY with more heart, more tears, more sorrow, and the most love I’ve had for any Melanie Harlow romance…ever. After We Fall is one of those books that OWN MY HEART AND SOUL FOR LIFE. I want to bask in the glow of this Harlow hangover a little longer.

★★★★★ ‘hard not to fall’ stars

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Jack Valentini isn’t my type.

Sexy, brooding cowboys are fine in the movies, but in real life, I prefer a suit and tie. Proper manners. A close shave.

Jack might be gorgeous, but he’s also scruffy, rugged, and rude. He wants nothing to do with a “rich city girl” like me, and he isn’t afraid to say so.

But I’ve got a PR job to do for his family’s farm, so he’s stuck with me and I’m stuck with him. His glares. His moods. His tight jeans. His muscles.

His huge, hard muscles.

Pretty soon there’s a whole different kind of tension between us, the kind that has me misbehaving in barns, trees, and pickup trucks. I’ve never done anything so out of character—but it feels too good to stop.

And the more I learn about the grieving ex-Army sergeant, the better I understand him. Losing his wife left him broken and bitter and blaming himself. He doesn’t think he deserves a second chance at happiness.

But he’s wrong.

I don’t need to be his first love. If only he’d let me be his last.  

All new second chance STANDALONE romance!
Amazon ➜ http://amzn.to/2gJ45c5
Nook ➜ http://bit.ly/2eK64ZV …
Kobo ➜ http://bit.ly/2fWAsAO
iBooks ➜ http://apple.co/2fofGgG
Paperback ➜ http://amzn.to/2gZ8J3v