Friday, July 25, 2014

I Stand Before You by S.R. Grey

Title: I Stand Before You
Author: S.R. Grey
Genre: New Adult,  Contemporary Romance
Publication Date:  September 2013
Paperback: 410 pages

Synopsis:  A story of love, a story of hope. How can you move forward when you're anchored to the past? When it comes to tattooed bad boys, Chase Gartner was the real deal. Partying, engaging in meaningless sex, getting into fights---Chase indulged in it all during his late teen years, thus firmly solidifying his status as a heartbreakingly gorgeous but way-too-dangerous-to-trust guy in his hometown of Harmony Creek, Ohio. Then, following one fateful night of reckless decisions, Chase's actions finally caught up to him and landed him in prison. Now, four years have passed and Chase finds himself a free man. He returns to Harmony Creek, ready to pick up the pieces and start rebuilding his shattered life. Things are off to a promising start when he meets Kay Stanton, a young woman with a tragic past of her own. Despite a powerful attraction, Chase and Kay are naturally hesitant to become involved. That's why friendship feels like the safest option. But when passions ignite and love blossoms, a relationship that is destined and meant to be can only be resisted for so long. When Chase and Kay finally succumb to their feelings they realize being together feels more right and true than anything they have ever experienced. But their love is soon tested. Chase's wild past still haunts and tempts him, and Kay is keeping a secret that could tear them apart. I Stand Before You is a journey of hope and forgiveness, coming to terms with the past and moving forward. But mostly it's a story of two damaged people who take a chance, open their hearts, and find true love.

Review:
 A sweet tale about two broken people who come together and find themselves, they are from two very different worlds, but fate brought them together and it was meant to be.  Meet Chase: A tattoo ridden “bad boy” who is really a kitty cat (unless you f with what’s his) and just wants to move on from his past mistakes and not be judged for them. Meet Kay: A classic “good girl”. Who has also made some mistakes and doesn't know how to forgive herself. As far as story line, it kept me interested BUT a lot of the emotion came through with the characters telling the reader instead of us seeing it for ourselves. Sort of like … let me TELL you what is going on rather than experiencing it WITH said characters,  because of that you don’t really get the chance connect on that level. Also, I have to agree with a lot of other reviewers in regards to their chosen “pet names” i.e. my girl/my boy, sweet baby girl. Yeah, it was endearing at first but I quickly got over it. I mean Chase spent years in jail and is a “bad boy” would he really be referring to his girlfriend as “sweet” anything? Probably not.  I just feel like they are adults and using name like that reminded me of teenagers claiming their significant others. I do LOVE the face that their relationship is slowly built up and not just insta-love or insta-sex., it was VERY refreshing. They were friends first and lovers second *YAY*. To sum it all up,  I liked this story and after reading the little twist at the end I am interested to see what happens next.



Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Cover Reveal: Broken Road (Book 2 in the Breaking Black Series)

 

Broken Road - Book 2 in the Breaking Black Series and the sequel to Black Horse


It is often said that time heals all wounds. It is spoken like a promise... a vow. These words are repeated to people who have been beaten down to their lowest state. To the poor souls who have nothing left to lose. Whispered into the ear of a grieving daughter, told with a shrug to a man who has nothing left to live for.

These are dangerous people. The down-trodden. The grieving. The ones who love more people dead than alive. The words should never be uttered. Not to the ones who have no solid ground on which to stand upon, no rail in which to clasp. The white-knuckled moments of life have come to be expected rather than feared.

"Time heals all wounds."

The words are an insult. A slap in the face... and around here, they'll get you hurt. For Averi McClain and her husband Colt, there were few deeper insults. If time could heal all wounds, Jessa McClain would be proud to know that she was going to be a grandmother. Nathan Ford would have proudly walked his little girl down the aisle with Corinne beaming from her seat. Sitting by her side, Anna McCord would wipe a tear from her eye. Standing proudly by Colt and Randy at the arbor, Seth would have stood as a groomsman for his childhood friend. That is, if time truly healed all wounds.

But what about the hurts you cannot see? The deep gashes and the mangled hearts that remain after the brutality of a war. Their childhood was a battlefield. Colt and Averi didn't want that for their own sons and daughters.

What does time to do wounds? Time is nothing but a reminder of how much time has past since you last saw the ones you love most. The line is bullshit. A scape goat. A cheap cop out. It is something people say when they don't know what to say. It's not deep or sympathetic. It doesn't stop the heart from bleeding. Colt would not have a granite wall built around his heart like a fortress. A barrier which only Averi could crack.

Randy's soul would not quake with anger every time he heard mention of Black Horse, his roving band of lunatics, also known as the Seventy Devils, or Jimmy Hearns. You can’t even say the name Trent Myers to him without his sanity flickering out of sight. Tim wouldn't have to fight his anger out at the gym for several hours, five days a week. Shelly's sense of security would be intact and undisturbed. Averi's legs would not be permanently scarred with evidence of Black Horse's fiery insanity.

Time doesn't heal all wounds. Wounds fester. Sometimes the strain and exertion of trying to get better puts so much stress on the wound that the scab rips open, stitches and scar tissue be damned. Some wounds cannot be mended. Some lines are just begging to be crossed. Some roads are meant to be broken.

As one of Averi's favorite bands so poignantly croons, "God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you." In the case of Colt and Averi, no song lyrics could more perfectly describe the road that they have traveled. They have a love like no other, acting as a guiding light, a beacon in a world turned dark by Black Horse. What would you do if the the one man you couldn't live without, was the son of the bastard that murdered your parents and your eldest brother? In the case of Averi Ford, she knew Colt was nothing like his father. He had spent his entire life running from his shadow. He had always been the one to protect Averi, even more so than her ever watchful brothers. You can’t turn away from a love like that.

Theirs was a love that was intensified by pain and longing, desperation and heartache. They faced seemingly insurmountable odds, and continue to do so, side by side. She needed him, not to be her hero, but as her equal and her friend until the end of their days. He needed her, not only physically, but spiritually, emotionally, he had wrapped all his hope in her. His humanity relied on her happiness. If her heart ceased to beat, he would let the darkness overcome him. He wouldn't stop until every single member of the Seventy Devils were dead.

Lord knows Randy and Tim would fight right alongside him. Averi was as essential to Colt as oxygen. Without her, the Colt that she knew and loved would cease to exist. They loved each other despite the odds they faced; in spite of those who said they shouldn't. Averi loved him regardless of his family history, of the stares and gossip, the upturned noses and blatant hostility. When Colt McClain walks into a room, the citizens of Oakely don't see him. They don't see his face or his kind soul. They don't see him at all. They see Black Horse - the man he so closely resembles, but whose hearts are night and day. There is a key difference. There is a gentle warmth to Colt's gaze. A calm depth that if you look deep enough, you can see all the good in him. Look into Black Horse's eyes and you'll see your own demise. When people look Colt's way, they see a murderer, a thief, a snake. They see a man with no soul. But Colt never killed a man that didn't have it coming, and let me tell you, Jimmy Hearns has it coming.

Most motorcycle clubs are not street gangs, but in the case of the Seventy Devils, there was no point in hiding it. The Seventy Devils ran the streets of Oakeley. The Seventy Devils, the band of lawless savages that did Black Horse's bidding, lived on, leaderless and hell bent on anarchy. When the strange circumstances surrounding Black Horse's death went public, Jimmy monopolized. Playing the role of a mourning son, Jimmy earned the respect and the power Texas' most violent motorcycle gang. To say the devils are out for blood is an understatement of epic proportions. The band of sociopathic heathens were rallied by Black Horse's death. It was a call to action, a call to arms, each one of them thirsty to drain the blood from Black Horse's murderer. Each one yearning to display his killer's head on a pike for the whole community to see. If the Seventy Devils were hostile during Black Horse's reign, it was nothing compared to their mental state after Black Horse was found burned, shot and murdered.

A war has erupted. The Seventy Devils are scattered and on alert, gnawing at the bit for the go-ahead to strike. They would not hesitate to spill the blood of anyone who stood in their way of recompense. They knew they would need to act fast if they wanted to come out on top. Colt was not the kind of guy that you slept on. He'd stop at nothing to protect his family and he was lethal whether he was heavily armed or going toe to toe, bare knuckled beat-down style. Colt did have Black Horse's blood coursing through his veins, after all. But then, so did Jimmy, and he is ready to show everyone that the apple didn't fall far from the tree... in fact, they appear to have formed on the same poisoned branch.

As leader of the Devils, Jimmy had seventy miscreants to do his bidding - and three goals in which he needed to achieve:

1. Avenge Black Horse
2. Kill Colt McClain and Randy Ford
3. Take Averi for his own

Jimmy has another thing coming if he thinks victory is easily won. Will Colt and Averi's broken road end in tragedy? Or will they be the ones to banish the devils straight to hell? When the demons of the past rise up, can Colt and Randy face them fearless and determined? Whatever happens, don't expect Colt and Randy to stand alone. Buckle up. The broken road makes for one hell of a ride.

Want more Broken Road? Check out these teasers!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To the Broken Road Release Party!
https://www.facebook.com/events/289136587927849/?source=1
Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Immagica by K.A. Last

Title: Immagica
Author: K.A. Last
Genre: YA 
Publication Date:  January 27, 2013


Synopsis: Immagica
Where anything is possible.
Enter at your own risk.


The night before her fifteenth birthday, Rosaline Clayton uncovers a deep family secret. She receives an amulet from her deranged father, and he tells her she must find the book in order to save him. Rosaline is used to her dad not making any sense, so she dismisses their conversation as another of his crazy rants.

When Rosaline’s brother, Elliot, drags her to their Nana’s attic to explore, they find the old leather-bound book tucked away in a chest. It sucks them into its pages, transporting them to a magical world. Along the way Rosaline and Elliot are separated, and the only thing she wants is to find her brother and go home. 

The creatures of Immagica have other ideas. After years of war their land lies in ruin. Using the amulet’s power, they want Rosaline to defeat the dragon and restore Immagica to its former glory. But Rosaline is bound to Immagica in ways she doesn’t understand, and when she discovers the truth about her family, she must follow her heart to save them all.

Review: Let me just state firstly how much I LOVED this book. I sat with my 7 and 2 year old daughters every night before bedtime for a week reading this with them. I can’t thank K.A. Last for writing this book, and for the countless hours I have spent talking my daughters about the characters in this book. You have all the right elements:

1. Young girl coming of age
2. Magical world and 
3. Magical creatures
4. An EPIC journey to save the world from destruction.

I am not ashamed to admit I enjoyed this book just as much as my kids did!
I sincerely hope that this will be made into a series, because I would love to read more adventures in Immagica. The time spent with my daughters introducing them to an early love of books is priceless.