BOOK BLITZ: NEIGHBORS WITH BENEFITS - MARISSA CLARKE + REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!!

***Disclaimer:I received this book via Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest opinion. Any thoughts and opinions are my own.***

Book & Author Details:

Neighbors with Benefits by Marissa Clarke 

Published by: Entangled: Lovestruck

Publication date: June 30th 2015

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

A satisfying category romance from Entangled’s new Lovestruck imprint…

Love thy sexy jerk of a neighbor…

CEO Michael Anderson might be something of a “control freak.” Still, he’s not quite sure why his therapist thinks dogsitting will fix anything—especially since he and the canine share a kind of mutual loathing. And to make matters worse, a house sitter moves in next door disrupting his peace—and his dates—with the worst possible music at the worst possible time… every time.

Free-spirited artist Mia Argaropolis has settled into the perfect gig—housesitting in NYC’s Upper West Side while working as an art therapist. Too bad she’s stuck living next door to a bossy control freak with a penchant for calling building security when she blasts music to drown out the noises coming through his bedroom wall.

Post-apocalyptic dinner rolls that nearly take her kitchen with them, a douchebag ex, and a Shih Tzu with the personality of Godzilla attack Mia in one day, and her unlikely neighbor comes to the rescue. Like it was her fault. And now, somehow, they find themselves engaged? Both agree, this neighborly feud just got taken to a whole new level.

Goodreads

Purchase:

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Review: 

I like Marissa Clarke's writing style. It's engaging and entertaining and keeps you in the story. This is the second book in the Anderson Brother series but it can be read as a stand alone. 

Michael is straight-laced and a little uptight. Mia is the complete opposite. The story is a little cliche'. The guy is uptight, the girl is a free spirit. They can't stand each other and then all of a sudden they're all the other can think about it. BUT it's a great spin on the story, thanks to a dog Michael is talked into sitting by his psychiatrist. The way that Marissa Clarke wrote this common story makes it very interesting. You don't feel like "Oh, I've read this before" or "Oh, I already know what's going to happen." It's very refreshing and entertaining. 

I enjoyed this book so much but it's very hard for me to talk about it without giving away a lot of spoilers because it was so good I just want to talk about the whole book! I will say that at the beginning of the book I was very turned off by Michael. I thought he was a complete jerk and was hoping that someone else was going to swoop in and steal Mia. But once things started heating up between them, I quickly changed my mind!! They're a great match once they were able to get over their differences. I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to checking out the rest of the series! 

AUTHOR BIO:

Marissa Clarke lives in Texas, where everything is bigger, especially the mosquitoes. 

When not writing, she wrangles her rowdy pack of three teens, husband, and a Cairn Terrier named Annabel, who rules the house (and Marissa's heart) with an iron paw.  She loves to connect with readers, so follow/friend her on Facebook and Twitter or shoot her an email from her website "Contact" page.

Author links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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BOOK BLITZ: Forever Bound - Deanna Roy + Excerpt + Giveaway!

Book & Author Details:

Forever Bound by Deanna Roy
(The Forever Series #4)
Publication date: July 28th 2015
Genres: New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

A new standalone romance with the characters from the USA Today bestselling Forever series, coming July 28, 2015.

You can only run from life for a little while. Eventually, it catches up.

A hitchhiking musician looking only for freedom and adventure as he sings for tips across the US spends a single night with spunky pink-haired Jenny, only to discover that sometimes, one night can be the beginning of forever.

Goodreads

Purchase:

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Excerpt from Forever Bound

Whoa. Who was that girl?

The party was full of women, polished and perfect and snooty in how they appraised me, like they were looking for something, and I wasn't it.

But not this one.

She seemed nervous, a little lost. Her green dress was as fancy as anyone's here, but that hair. I didn't know anybody with pink dreadlocks. She couldn't be an actress expecting to get many parts, unless the hair was for something she was doing right now.

It was wicked gorgeous. I'd never seen anyone like her.

The tables were packed, and clusters of animated people talked with exaggerated gestures, like they were game show hosts. I could see from the body language that everybody had too much to say and not enough patience to hear anybody else.

I looked her way a couple more times, trying not to stare.

The guitar I was holding during the band's break felt good. I wanted to crank out a solo, something dark and brooding, but this wasn't my gig. I set it back in its stand and couldn't help myself, but took one more look into the crowd.

My heart revved up when I saw she was watching me. Then she was heading this way. 

AUTHOR BIO:

Deanna Roy is the five-time USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and women's fiction.

She is a passionate advocate for women who have lost babies. She has several books on the subject, including her bestseller FOREVER INNOCENT, a romance about a couple whose baby is taken off life support at seven days old.

She has run the website PregnancyLoss.Info for fifteen years, including many large spin-off support groups both online and in person.

To learn about new releases, sign up for her subscriber list at http://deannaroy.com/news. She has regular giveaways in conjunction with major pregnancy loss events.

Author Links:

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

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BOOK BLITZ: The Single Game - Amanda Black + Guest Post + Q & A + Giveaway!

Book & Author Details:

The Single Game by Amanda Black
Publication date: July 15th 2015
Genres: New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

In this third, stand-alone installment of Amanda Black’s Apartment Novels series, sparks fly during a sexy party game.

When Eden Foster’s parents tell her they’re moving from Chicago to the Illinois suburb of Aledo, Eden is crushed. That is, until she runs crying to her jock boyfriend, who she finds on top of her so-called best friend. Moving’s not looking so bad anymore.

Now a senior at Mercer County High, Eden is ready to re-enter the dating scene. Still burned over the betrayal of her ex, she’s looking for someone sweet and innocent. With the help of her two new friends, Zoe and Amy, Eden makes a list of what she’s looking for: an eager virgin, ready for training—and no jocks.

Eden thinks she’s found what she’s looking for in Logan Black, a shy and geeky classmate. But why are Zoe and Amy convinced that the answer to her search is a party game…with kissing?

Eden better get ready, because she’s about to play the Single Game.

The Single Game is the latest addition to the erotic Apartment Novels series, which began with Lily and Ethan in The Apartment and The Blank Canvas.

Goodreads

Purchase:

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Guest Blog Post

I’m so excited for the release of my new book The Single Game! It’s my first venture into NA territory and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. While it is a continuation of my Apartment series that gives us a glimpse into the future of some of the main characters, it can easily be read as a standalone novel featuring the next generation of the Foster family. So if you haven’t read the first two books but this one sounds interesting to you, go ahead and jump on in! If you really like this one you can always go back and see how it all began.

The idea for this story actually came to me in a dream a while ago. It was just a fleeting image of two random teenagers making out for the first time in a dark closet during a party game that was sort of like spin the bottle. The boy was very nervous and the girl was the one putting him at ease. For some reason that one scene kept replaying in my mind over and over again after I woke up, which I found totally weird because I can never remember my dreams. I always feel like they must have been awesome, but damn if I can ever recall one single detail the next morning. That’s why when I realized that I was building on that scenario in my head the more that I thought about it, I knew I had to write it down or it would drive me crazy. As the story unfolded, I realized that I was drawing on a lot of my own experiences from when I started dating my husband, so this one ended up being very near and dear to my heart.

I really hope you check out this sweet and sexy story and let me know what you think! -Amanda Black

Q&A

1.                What elements of your own love life influenced this story? 


More than I should probably admit! My husband and I were both very young when we started dating. Not quite as young as Eden and Logan, but there were still plenty of bets that we would never make it.

2.                There is less angst in The Single Game than in your previous books (The Apartment and The Blank Canvas), can you talk about that a little bit more? 


That was most definitely on purpose. By the time I finished writing those books I was absolutely drained from all of the emotions I had dredged up, both personal and fictional. Once I started getting the idea for The Single Game I saw that as an opportunity to just sit back and have some fun. It sounds funny to say that I was avoiding melodrama while also writing about teenagers, but I just wanted it to feel genuine, sweet and loving. Life has enough angst. I wanted to give me and my readers a small break.

3.                What motivated you to write a New Adult Erotica? 


I was already used to writing erotic romance after the last two books, but I was just really drawn to the story that was growing in my mind of these two teenagers on the verge of graduating high school. It’s such a big milestone in everyone’s life and I wanted to see how this couple would deal with a budding relationship in the middle of all of that.

4.                I was so intrigued by the characters in this story. Logan is a shy, geeky, male virgin whereas Eden is a beautiful, confident, and sexually active HS senior girl. What made you reverse these typically male/female roles? 


I’m always up for a good role reversal! Honestly, some details of their relationship were drawn right from my own and other people I’ve known. There were plenty of girls who got burned by dating a player and they were much happier once they gave the shy guy another look. Plus, how many of us have said at one time, “I’d love to find a guy with no relationship baggage who I could teach exactly what I like.” Eden takes that idea and runs with it, exploring and discovering brand new things that she and Logan both like.

5.                What character in The Single Game is most like you and why?

Definitely Eden. I had the proverbial burning by the ex. Not quite as dramatic as hers was, but that scene came from my ugliest high school memories. I wasn’t back in the saddle until early college but by then I knew what a treasure I had when I found my own shy guy.

AUTHOR BIO:

Amanda Black was born and raised in the Midwest, where she still lives with her husband and spoiled-rotten dogs. She earned a bachelor's degree in Studio Art before deciding that she actually needed to pay some bills, which is when she took a position as an ophthalmic technician.

For the past few years she's been a closet romance writer in her spare time and would love nothing more than to make it a full-time career. When she's not writing her next steamy love scene, her interests include reading, sketching, and annihilating her friends and family in movie trivia.

Author links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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BOOK BLITZ: Pixelated - L.S. Murphy + Giveaway!

Pixelated

by L.S. Murphy 

Release Date: 06/30/15

Bloomsbury Spark

Summary from Goodreads:

Senior Year. 

Middle of nowhere. 

What's the new girl to do?

For Piper Marks, the answer is simple. She’s determined to have her photography rock the cover of National Geographic someday, and moving to Clarkton, Iowa for her last year of high school is not going to stop her. Even if her usual subjects have changed from bright lights and skyscrapers to fields, cows…and more fields. 

But when photographer at the local paper quits in a huff, she steps into his spot. Her new job keeps Piper busy capturing tackles, and zooming in on first downs and end zone dances, not to mention putting her directly in the path of varsity football star Les Williams IV. Her new friends warn her off, but she can’t resist the pull she feels toward this mysterious country boy. But this small town is keeping a secret, and it’s one that could destroy any chance they have to be together. 

It’s up to Piper to decide what to do with the distorted truth. Can she risk exposing her heart? It might be worth it, 'cause Les is about to change her world from black and white to fully saturated color. 

Buy Links:

AMAZON│BARNES & NOBLE│KOBO

Praise for Pixelated:
"In Pixelated, L.S. Murphy weaves a complex web of secrets and lies with a ‘will they or won’t they’ romance that kept me turning pages and holding my breath!" ~ Julie Reece, author of The Artisans and Crux

"Beautifully written, with a full spectrum of emotion and complex characters, Pixelated will tug at all your heartstrings. I easily lost myself in the world L.S. Murphy created and couldn't stop reading because I needed to see how the story ended." ~ Kelly Oram, author of Cinder & Ella

"L.S. Murphy brings something for every reader with Pixelated: romance, secrets, mystery, and a main character torn between two choices. Murphy's writing is sharp and steeped in emotions, deftly hooking her readers from the first sentence to the last." ~ Sarah Bromley, author of A Murder Of Magpies 

About the Author

L.S. Murphy obsesses about St. Louis Cardinals baseball, fangirls over her favorite authors, and watches every episode of Doctor Who like it's the first time. When she's not doing those time-consuming things, the former farm-girl turned city slicker turned suburbanite writes sweet romances for teens and adults.

Author Links:
   

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Book Blitz Organized by:

BOOK BLITZ: Coming Back - Emma South + Excerpt + 2 Giveaways!!

Book & Author Details:

Coming Back by Emma South 

Publication date: July 2nd 2015

Genres: New Adult, Romance, Suspense

Synopsis:

Once, Christabelle Jayne defied death.  Learning to live and love again is going to be so much harder.

After being abducted and vanishing without a trace, she was presumed dead.  But Christie isn’t the kind of girl that goes down without a fight.  When she crawls out of the forest almost two years later, bruised and bleeding, she is confronted by a world that seems to have moved on and left her behind.

Dean Hawking returned to Warfields after a terrible tragedy on the job shook his faith in humanity.  The cop’s transfer home wasn’t the cure-all he hoped for until the best thing about it, the girl he loved since high school, Christie Jayne, turns up alive.

Their worlds are thrust together again for the first time in years.  Though still reeling from her ordeal, in Dean she finds a fathomless love that reminds her there are still beautiful things in the world. In Christie, he sees his chance at redemption…

Then Dean uncovers some startling information about Christie’s case, revealing that she might be in imminent danger, and their second chance at love will be put to the test when the full story of her escape is revealed.  Can there be any coming back from what she’s had to do?

Goodreads

Purchase:

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Excerpt: 

“Hey Christie, I really need your help, King’s getting fat.”

The German Shepherd wagged his tail at the mention of his name, and Christie looked down at him with whatever fondness she could muster, given her energy levels.  She brought her eyes back up to me and seemed to be searching for the right way to decline, but then gave up and shrugged.

“OK.  Why not?  Mom? Dad?” she called out and waited for the response. “I’m going out, I’ll be back in…” she turned back to me.

“Couple hours, tops,” I said.

“A couple hours,” she finished.

Her mother stepped into the hallway.  “Really?”

“Yes, really.  I’ll be with Dean and back for dinner.  Police escort.  OK?”

“Well… yes, of course.  OK.”  Mrs. Jayne took the news with mild shock.

Christie picked out her shoes from a pile near the front door and lifted a light coat off a hook before stepping outside as she shrugged it on.  I was a couple of steps ahead of her and offered her my hand when I noticed how wet the steps were.

“Careful, it’s a bit slippery here.”

I couldn’t help but smile when she took the help I offered.  How often had I hoped to have her hand in mine, to walk through the kingdom of Warfields with its princess at my side?  An embarrassingly large number of times was the answer.

AUTHOR BIO:

Now a USA Today Best Selling Author!

Please visit http://emmasouth.com/?page_id=31 to sign up for my newsletter.

I'm in my thirties and living in New Zealand. About 2 years ago I lost somebody very close to me. I was lucky in a way, I was given enough time to make a promise. My promise was that I would never forget our young and innocent love, and it's a promise I intend to keep.

My writing is a way to help me keep that promise. I've always enjoyed writing but was forced into being 'prudent' and giving myself over to soul-crushing office work for the sake of a steady salary. Recent events forced me to re-evaluate my priorities and I decided to take a chance. I like to put little pieces of 'us' into my writing, from funny conversations we had, to apocalyptic arguments, to that special feeling you get when you hop into bed fully aware that your feet are freezing but your partner doesn't kick you away.

Even though these things are set in fictional worlds and attached to fictional characters, in a way it feels like I'm doing something that will make our love live forever. If somebody reads one of my stories and likes a joke or sheds a tear, then our love has lived on, and I thank any readers I might have for that.

Author Links:

EmmaSouth.com | Goodreads | Twitter

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