On Every Street by Karina Halle

(The Artists Trilogy, book 0.5)

When young con artist Ellie Watt decides to call herself Eden White and go after the drug lord who ruined her as a child, she never expects to fall for one of his henchmen. But Javier Bernal is no ordinary man. Subtly dangerous and overwhelmingly seductive, Eden finds herself passionately in love with Javier, the very person she’s set-up to betray. With her body and heart in a heated battle against her deep need for revenge, no one will walk away from this con a winner.

This 50K word (100+ pages) novella takes place six years before Sins & Needles. It can be read before or after Sins & Needles and may also be read as a stand-alone.

Javier…YOU SON OF A BITCH! You make me fall for you when I didn’t even want to like you in the first place, and then even though I knew what was coming, you managed to rip my heart right out of my chest! There has never been a more perfect example of a love/hate relationship with a character – ever. I want to smack him across the face and rip all his clothes off at the same time. Karina, what have you done to me?!?

This novella is Javier and Ellie’s story, and it’s a fucking whirlwind. After reading Sins & Needles, I was torn on how I felt about a novella involving Javier. I had already made my mind about him and firmly planted myself on Team Camden. But there’s no way this novella would make me change my mind about him, right? I had to read it anyway. Then the unthinkable happened – I started seeing people’s posts about how dashing and charming and sexy Javier is, and now they don’t know who Ellie should end up with. Um…excuse the fuck out of me…but WHAT?! How could you possibly change your mind about this man??

And then I read On Every Street and I’m just as confused about my feelings as everyone else. Well, maybe not as torn, but there's some hesitation in my decision now. This novella allowed us to see the side of Javier that never surfaced in Sins & Needles, and really delve into their relationship. It wasn’t a huge train wreck or horribly one-sided like I thought it would be; it’s sweet and kind and loving…with a dash of crazy mother fucker. With having read Sins & Needles prior to On Every Street, I knew how their relationship would play out and just what actions would lead to their demise, but you know what? My heart hurt just as much this time as it did reading about it in Sins & Needles. Ellie is one of my favorite characters of all-time, and her meltdown in the truck was like taking a freaking hammer to my heart.

I didn’t want to like Javier or think that there might be some good underneath all that asshole, but I can’t help it. He got under my skin. I’m not to the point where I can say I don’t care who she ends up with, but Karina Halle definitely planted a little seed of doubt in my mind. Sure, Javier’s batshit crazy, but Camden isn’t perfectly sane either. On Every Street was an intense and suspenseful novella, and while I’m still Team Camden – the lure of Team Javier is giving me it’s come hither stare and the temptation has made its presence known. There is only one thing I know for sure at this point; I need Shooting Scars, like, yesterday! 

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Blog Tour: Give Me Something by Elizabeth Lee

Here’s the deal…I learned a long time ago that sometimes you have to use what you’ve got to make things happen. What I happen to have is a pretty smile, long legs and the ability to make men believe anything I say. Before you get on your high horse and start judging me, can you honestly say you’ve never batted your lashes at some guy for a free drink at the bar? That’s what I thought.

Keep in mind as I tell you my story of how I took it one step further. My story of lies, deceit, manipulation and love. Yeah, love. Believe me, it fits. Especially, when you factor in Nick and Tucker – one had my heart and the other one wanted it all for himself. Which one? Well, I can’t tell you that. It would defeat the purpose of the story. If I’m going to fill you in about me, Lila Garrison, and my life as a con artist you’re going to need to know all the facts, including the ones about the two guys who made me want to give up the life of fancy clothes, expensive jewelry, fast cars and easy money. Because sometimes, one person can give you something that’s more valuable than all of that.

If you’re still interested, stick around. Just remember, I’m pretty good at convincing people to do what I want, so if by the end of this whole thing you feel worked over, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

"I was pretty sure I was in love with Nick, falling for Tucker, and lying to them both." - Lila

A con artist, her sexy partner, an even sexier mark…and a bucket load of perfectly cheesy pickup lines. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a sucker for cheesy pickup lines; they make me laugh, and as Marilyn Monroe said, “If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything.” Give Me Something is Elizabeth Lee’s second novel, and I love this book just about as much as I love her!

Give Me Something is a perfect mix of deception, angst, love, and suspense. The storyline is original and draws you in from page one; I was so wrapped up in the mess between Lila, Nick, and Tucker that I read the entire novel in a matter of hours! I seriously couldn’t put it down. I would tell myself, “Okay Ash, one more chapter and then you need to get some shit done,” but let me tell you something – the only shit I got done that day was starting and finishing this book.

The characters are some of my all-time favorites, and honestly, I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be a big fan of Lila before reading this. She is the type of girl who knows just how beautiful she really is and uses it to her advantage. And while I think we can all agree that we’ve all used our looks to get our way at some point, I was concerned that she would come across an arrogant girl with her nose up so high it might as well be in the damn clouds. I seriously could not have been more wrong; there was not one time during this book that I disliked her. Sure, I don’t agree with her and Nick’s business of conning people but even with that baggage, she was still a likable character. That’s the sign of a talented author, y’all!

Nick and Tucker…where do I even begin?! My feelings for Nick were all over the freaking place because the guy just seemed like a sneaky, little bastard. I liked him and then didn’t like him…and then I’d forgive him, and then there was one particular scene where I was all, “OH HELL MOTHER FUCKING NO HE DIDN’T!!!” I hated him in that moment; and then Elizabeth throws another curveball right at my face and makes me regret screaming angry obscenities towards him! The only thing that kept me from forgetting which was up was Tucker Kline. Sweet sassy molassey! I absolutely adore him!! His cheesy pickup lines were adorable, and his whole persona is like a breath of fresh air. Well, a steaming hot breath of fresh air. Excuse me for a moment while I wipe the drool off my face and collect my thoughts………

Okay. Good enough.

Honestly, I could go on and on about this book but now I have Tucker Kline on the brain, and it doesn’t appear he’s going away any time soon. If you haven’t read Give Me Something yet, you’re missing out. Buy this book and buy it noooow! Oh and E, the irony is not lost on me that this book is called Give Me Something and you really did give me something – a badass read and a hot, new book boyfriend. ;)

PS – Just because of the pickup lines in this book, I thought I’d share my all-time favorite cheesy pickup line with y'all: You’ve got 206 bones in your body. Want one more?  

You know that made you laugh… :)

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**Enter to win signed paperback copies of both Elizabeth Lee novels, SHATTERED and GIVE ME SOMETHING here!**

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About the Author

Born and raised in the middle of a Midwestern cornfield (not literally, that would be weird), I've spent my entire life imagining stories. Stories where the right guy always gets the right girl, first kisses are as magical as they are on the big screen and anything is completely possible if you believe. 

Although this journey began years ago, it recently took on a whole new life. After years of devouring hundreds of romance, YA and new adult novels, I had an epiphany...I should write a book. And I did! My first YA/New Adult novel is out now!

If I'm not reading, writing, enjoying drinks with my amazing group of girlfriends or chasing around a sarcastically funny one-year-old, I'm probably watching television shows that were created for teenagers, while my husband teases that I'm too old to watch them. 

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COVER REVEAL: Because of You by T.E. Sivec

Because of You (Playing with Fire #2) by T.E. Sivec
Release Date: April 29, 2013
Cover Design: Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations

Synopsis:

Brady Marshall has made a career of playing it safe. When he decides to do something rash and becomes a Navy SEAL, he thinks he's finally escaped the rigid structure of the high society life his parents forced down his throat. All he does is trade in one set of rules for another. He follows military protocol to a T, but it still results in the death of an entire team of Navy SEALS and puts his best friends directly in harm's way. He's struggled to stay afloat and not drown in grief, guilt, and booze, but he's losing that battle quickly. When his baby sister flees her abusive husband and shows up on his doorstep with his young niece in tow, he has no choice but to clean up his act. He will stop at nothing to protect them and never let them down again, even if it means taking a job that goes against everything he believes in. If protecting a pop star princess who thinks she's better than everyone means he can keep a roof over their, what other choice does he have?

Layla Carlysle has lived a life of luxury. She's been a star since the young age of fifteen, and every record she releases shoots straight to the top of the charts. She has people surrounding her every single day telling her how amazing she is, how beautiful she is, and how lucky she is, but she's never felt more alone in her entire life. She wants nothing more than to break free and do what she really wants to do: write her own music, sing her own songs, and find a way to finally be happy with her life. The only thing standing in her way is her mother, Eve Carlysle. Eve has controlled every single aspect of her daughter's life and will stop at nothing to achieve fame and fortune, even if that means using her daughter to get there. When an overly-amorous fan's letters become increasingly more sinister, Brady will have to suck up his opinion of how the other half lives to take the job seriously. The pair will need to learn to trust each other and put aside their differences before the letters become a reality and someone's life is in jeopardy. 

Brady has been to hell and back, and he refuses to let anyone else get close to him again. Layla has never lived her life for herself, and the emptiness is threatening to break her for good. 

Sometimes our lives are already planned for us, but because of you, all of that could change in an instant. 

**Check out my review for A Beautiful Lie, the first book in the Playing with Fire series and add it to your shelf on Goodreads** 

**Want a BECAUSE OF YOU teaser??? Of course you do. Click here & brace yourself ;)**

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About the Author

This is the pen name of Tara Sivec. Under T.E. Sivec, she writes romantic suspense novels. T.E. Sivec lives in Ohio with her husband and two children, living the dream of being a full-time writer. 

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Thanks to Madison for organizing the cover reveal!

Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

(Ten Tiny Breaths series, book 1)

Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to bury the pieces left behind – all but one. Her little sister, Livie. Kacey can swallow the constant disapproval from her born-again aunt Darla over her self-destructive lifestyle; she can stop herself from going kick-boxer crazy on Uncle Raymond when he loses the girls’ college funds at a blackjack table. She just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and then they can get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But when Uncle Raymond slides into bed next to Livie one night, Kacey decides it’s time to run. Armed with two bus tickets and dreams of living near the coast, Kacey and Livie start their new lives in a Miami apartment complex, complete with a grumpy landlord, a pervert upstairs, and a neighbor with a stage name perfectly matched to her chosen “profession.” But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle all of them. What she can’t handle is Trent Emerson is apartment 1D.

Kacey doesn’t want to feel. She doesn’t. It’s safer that way. For everyone. But sexy Trent finds a way into her numb heart, reigniting her ability to love again. She starts to believe that maybe she can leave the past where it belongs and start over. Maybe she’s not beyond repair.

But Kacey isn’t the only one who’s broken. Seemingly perfect Trent has an unforgiveable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness.

“I’d fix it all for you if I could. You know that right?” He whispers. I wonder if he’s talking about my scars or the last four years of my life.

“Yes,” is all I say. Yes to all of it.

5 BREATHTAKING, BEAUTIFULLY DAMAGED STARS.

This is one hell of a journey; it is a story of love, loss, healing, and the power of forgiveness. After Kacey loses four of the most important people in her life to a drunk driver, she refuses to let anyone get to close her again. If she doesn’t let anyone in, she can’t experience the grief of losing someone again. There is only one person Kacey wants in her life: her younger sister, Livie. When their uncle crawls into Livie’s bed one night, Kacey decides it’s time for her and Livie to get out of Grand Rapids, and start all over in Miami, Florida. While they are working on building a new life together, not one…not two… but several people, including her sex-on-a-stick neighbor Trent, manage to finagle their way into Kacey’s life and as hard as she tries, she just can’t shut them out. But when she finds out about Trent’s past, all the progress she has made comes crashing down into a suffocating heap of betrayal.

Sweet mercy, I am so in love with this book. The characters, each and every single one of them, officially takes up residence in my heart – Kacey, Trent, Livie, Storm, Mia, Dan, Ben, Tanner, Nate – I absolutely adored all of them for very different reasons. I honestly can’t remember the last book I read where I cared so exponentially not just about the main characters, but the secondary ones as well. I love reading about well-developed characters; the ones where it’s obvious that the writer is just as invested in the secondary characters, as they are in the main characters. Ten Tiny Breaths is a blinding example of wonderfully developed characters.

The chemistry between Kacey and Trent sent steam rolling off the pages, and their gradual relationship was refreshing. Sure, Trent was the one pumping the brakes every time things got heated between them, but it was nice to see their relationship evolve without sex overshadowing it. Trent’s ability to slowly break down the walls Kacey had built up was heartwarming, sweet, charming, and just plain freaking perfect. I love them together; love.

I will admit, I kind of had my suspicions on what Trent was hiding about his past and as it turned out, I was right. The thing is…I wasn’t even mad at him. My heart broke for him and Kacey in that moment but surprisingly, I didn’t cry! What?!? I know! The only part of this book that broke me down and finally turned on the waterworks was the scene with Kacey, Cole, a one-way mirror, and a tear-jerking apology. As much as I felt like I should dislike Cole, I couldn’t – not one ounce of me wanted to dislike him. He made a terrible decision four years ago that shattered his life just as much as it ripped apart Kacey’s, and I empathized with him…especially in that room.   

Ten Tiny Breaths is absolutely fabulous, and is definitely one that I will buying in paperback – who doesn’t need physical copies of their favorite books, even if they buy the ebook first?! This will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions, and show you the power of forgiveness, empathy, and closure. It’s incredibly moving…honestly, I can’t say enough about this book. Just read it. I promise you won’t regret it.

"Just breathe," my mom would say. "Ten tiny breaths...Seize them. Feel them. Love them."

PS – I think this novel paints a very ugly and very real picture of how driving drunk can not only change your life, but it can change the life of an innocent person who just happens to be on the road at the same time you decided to get behind the wheel after too many drinks. Would you rather spend the money on a cab ride insuring you get home safe, or risk hurting yourself and/or someone else…and then having to live with that guilt? Don’t drink and drive, y’all; believe me – it’s worth it to spend $20 on a cab.  

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On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

Anna Emerson is a thirty-year-old English teacher desperately in need of adventure. Worn down by the cold Chicago winters and a relationship that’s going nowhere, she jumps at the chance to spend the summer on a tropical island tutoring the sixteen-year-old T.J.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to go anywhere. His cancer is in remission and he wants to get back to his normal life. But his parents are insisting he spend the summer in the Maldives catching up on all the school he missed that year.

Anna and T.J. board a private plane headed to the Callahans’ summer home, and as they fly over the Maldives’ twelve hundred islands, the unthinkable happens. Their plane crashes in shark-infested waters. They make it to shore but soon discover that they’re stranded on an uninhabited island.

At first their only thought is survival. But as the days turn to weeks, and then months, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

I was wandering through Barnes and Noble one day searching for some new paperbacks to add to my bookshelf, and I came across On the Island; it was on sale and I’d heard good things about it, so I thought “yeah, why not” – I added it to my stack of books and headed for the checkout counter. I got home, put it on my bookshelf (along with the other books I lugged home) and that’s where it stayed, unread, for months. Yep, months. I was worried the age difference would be weird for me, that I wouldn’t be able to take it seriously, that there would be an ick-factor to the romance.

Holy smacks, I could not have been more wrong!

On the Island is the story of Anna & T.J., who find themselves stranded on an island after their pilot has a heart attack and crashes their plane in the ocean, somewhere amongst the thousands of islands in the Maldives. The longer they are on the island, the more they begin to lose hope of ever being found, and the more they begin to rely on each other not just for survival, but for companionship – for years, the only human contact they have is with each other. While they work together to keep each other alive, Anna tries to fight off her growing feelings for T.J.; but just how long can she really hold out knowing they may never get off this island…

The relationship between Anna and T.J. was perfectly written, in my opinion. While I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get past their age difference, or that it wouldn’t be believable, or that it would seem inappropriate – I’m so happy to say that I felt none of those things. My mind eased exponentially when I realized nothing sexual would happen between them until he was legal, and the gradual attraction seemed natural; I mean, if you’re stuck on an island for years with someone, it makes sense that you would start to develop an intimate relationship.

This book was pretty much flawless, and Tracey’s writing will captivate you from the very first page. One of the major pluses for me? It didn’t drag. At all. Tracey could have very easily extended this book given that years go by while they’re on the island, but she didn’t – she didn’t include unnecessary plotlines that would have bogged down the story to the point where I would have been thinking, “Really though…when are they getting off this damn island?!” That thought didn’t cross my mind once, because there weren’t any plotlines that caused the story to flat line; every victory, every obstacle, every detail was perfect and necessary and kept me enthralled with T.J. and Anna page after page.

You know a book is a quality read when the author can invoke the emotions of the characters into the reader; Tracey did that with On the Island. One instance in particular involving their first fire immediately followed by rain made my heart sink. I felt for these characters, and I was rooting for T.J. and Anna’s relationship like it was my freaking job. This book just absolutely blew me away, and God forbid I ever find myself stranded on an island, I can only pray that I have a T.J. with me. 

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COVER REVEAL: The Good Life by Jodie Beau

The Good Life by Jodie Beau
Release Date: April 9, 2013
Cover Design: Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations

Synopsis:

Twenty-two year old Roxie Golightly is a fun and carefree spirit...until she marries a wealthy man and her role as a trophy wife leaves her isolated in a condo with an ironing board and on obsessive desire to impress people. 

When her marriage ends after seven years, Roxie's identity is buried so deep under layers of furniture polish and piles of designer shoes that she doubts she can ever be the person she once was. 

In an attempt to reconnect Roxie with the person she used to be, her friend creates the Good Life List -- a list of challenges for her to complete by the end of the summer. 

With list in hand, Roxie moves back to her hometown. With the help of a sexy and charismatic guy from her past, Roxie is only a few check marks away from living the good life again, even if it means getting thrown out of a bar, wearing a skirt the size of a belt or skinny-dipping in the neighbor's pool at 3 A.M. 

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About the Author

Jodie has been writing fiction since she was a child and it was the only natural she would pursue it as a career. While studying at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, she took every writing class offered before she received a BA in Media Arts. After graduation, she moved to Wilmington, NC, with big dreams of one day writing for movies and TV. 

Then she met a boy...and there was a wedding. A few years later came another boy, this one even cuter. She gave up her "pipe dream" of being a Hollywood screenwriter and moved back to Detroit to be a wife, mom and career waitress. But babies sleep a lot and she got bored and it was either write or clean the house. So she wrote. 

She began with a pregnancy/mom blog, but she dreamed of doing more with her writing than making people laugh with stories of baby poop. So she decided to take a chance, to see if success wasn't just a pipe dream. The Good Life is her first novel. 

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CRAZY, STUPID LOVE WINNER!!!

AND THE WINNER IS......

JENNA BEARDEN! 

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