Cover Reveal: Betray My King by Kayla Lavan

ARC Review: Off the Ice (Juniper Falls #1) By Julie Cross

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: February 28, 2017
Publisher: EntangledTeen
320 Pages

All is fair in love and hockey…

Claire O’Connor is back in Juniper Falls, but that doesn’t mean she wants to be. One semester off, that’s what she promised herself. Just long enough to take care of her father and keep the family business—a hockey bar beside the ice rink—afloat. After that, she’s getting the hell out. Again.

Enter Tate Tanley. What happened between them the night before she left town resurfaces the second they lay eyes on each other. But the guy she remembers has been replaced by a total hottie. When Tate is unexpectedly called in to take over for the hockey team’s star goalie, suddenly he’s in the spotlight and on his way to becoming just another egotistical varsity hockey player. And Claire’s sworn off Juniper Falls hockey players for good.

It’s the absolute worst time to fall in love.

For Tate and Claire, hockey isn’t just a game. And they both might not survive a body check to the heart.

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I love that hockey books are becoming a thing. As an avid hockey fan (go Sharks!), I was sad to see so many sports romance books that only revolved around football or baseball, and when hockey was used, it was just a general mention. "He played center." "The game was exciting." No details, no setting the scene, nothing. But that's not the case anymore, there's hockey books everywhere! And while some still fall short of capturing this amazing sport, there are quite a few that seem to know what's up.

In Juniper Falls, hockey is a way of life. If you don't play, you aren't important. No one cares about your future - only your right now. Tate Tanley lives in his fathers shadow. Everyone remembers the great Keith Tanley, but the side they didn't see was what sent Tate to the hospital with a broken arm many nights ago.When Tate gets promoted to starting goalie on the varsity team, suddenly his father is back and is everywhere. Tate is just trying to figure out what he wants. He knows he loves hockey, but the game doesn't feel his. It feels like it's his fathers and he wants to be as far away from that man as he can get.

Claire O'Connell has had her share of bad times. Leaving school a year early after getting accepted to Northwestern, she's back when her father suffers a health emergency. She's the only one who knows what happened with Tate and his father that night with the broken arm. But Tate isn't that scrawny boy she remembers. And as she falls harder and harder for him, she also sees the darkness that's eating away at him. Having to deal with her own demons doesn't help the situation. 

This is my second book from Cross and I still enjoy her writing style. Her characters are alive, the situations believable, and the writing just flows. I loved the camaraderie between Tate and his teammates. And Cross does a good job at showing just how important friends and being part of a team are to high school students. High school is tough. No one knows really who they are or who they want to be so most are just living in the now. And that's what Juniper Falls captures. The now. But Off the Ice shows what happens when you begin to live for tomorrow. 

I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Any Boy But You (North Pole, Minnesota #1) by Julie Hammerle

I am very please to be joining Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours in its promotion of Any Boy but You (North Pole, Minnesota #1) by Julie Hammerle. Having loved Julie's debut novel, The Sound of Us, I jumped at the chance to read the beginnings of her new series. And I wasn't disappointed. Today, Julie stops by to tell me 10 things people would be surprised to learn about her. So Julie, take it away!

 

10 things people would be surprised to learn about me.

1. I was a Latin major in college, which maybe isn't too surprising. Latin plays a role in my first two books.
2. I'm a classically trained opera singer. (Also not surprising, if you've read The Sound of Us.)
3. I have a scar on my lip from when my own dog bit me in the face. I was a freshman in high school.
4. I was on the varsity golf team in high school.
5. I have zero tattoos, but if I were to get one it'd be some combination of my kids' initials on the inside of my right wrist. 
6. I can play exactly one song on the guitar - "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love"
7. Ulysses S. Grant is my favorite president, has been since I was a little kid. I know now that he wasn't a very good president, but I don't care. He's my favorite. 
8. Guilty pleasure book: Jewels  by Danielle Steele. So fantastic.
9. I named my first car Geoffrey Rush.
10. TV shows I wish I could watch on Netflix already: Sisters (the Sela Ward/George Clooney opus from the early '90s) and Just the 10 of Us (the sleazy as heck Growing Pains spinoff).

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 Thank you Julie! I have to say, I love that you named your first car Geoffrey Rush. Below you can find more about Julie and also find where you can pick up a copy of  Any Boy but You. There's also a giveaway going on where you can win a signed copy of the The Sound of Us.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thank you again to Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours and Julie Hammerle. Be sure to check out my review here.