Blog Tour + Giveaway: Caged In Winter by Brighton Walsh

Hey guys! I'm so happy to be joining Berkley Books and Brighton Walsh in their blog tour for Caged in Winter! I absolutely loved this debut from Walsh and hope that you guys will check it out too! There's also a fancy giveaway further down if you wanted to try to get your hand on a copy!

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Publisher: Berkley Books
304 Pages

In this emotional and sexy New Adult debut from Brighton Walsh, the only thing more frightening than commitment is hope…...

Aspiring chef Cade Maxwell is immediately, viscerally attracted to Winter Jacobson. But it’s not her mouthwatering curves he’s drawn to—it’s the strange emptiness in her eyes. When Cade saves her from a drunken customer with grabby hands, he’s shocked at her response…...

Winter doesn’t need Cade’s help. After a lifetime of getting by on her own, she’s happy to rely on herself. She’s exactly seventy-six days away from graduating college, and if she can hold it together that long, she’ll finally be able to rise above the crappy hand she was dealt.

But now, every time she turns around, Cade is there, ready to push her, smile at her, distract her from her plans. Winter knows she can’t afford to open up—especially to a man she’s terrified to actually want….

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Girl running from her past meets boy who wants to fix it. This isn’t a new idea in New Adult. In fact, it’s one of the most common. What it boils down to is how the author tells the story and what they bring to it emotionally that makes it stand out. 

Caged in Winter tells the story of Winter, a disillusioned girl who is struggling to make it on her own as a waitress in a dive bar. She hates the job, but can make bank in tips by pretending to flirt with the clientele. When knight in shining armor Cade shows up and “saves” Winter from getting groped, he doesn’t get the thank you he was expecting. Instead, Winter is furious. And here begins Cade’s infatuation with this feisty, fiery-eyed girl.

Winter, on the other hand, just wants to be left alone. She’s counting down the days until she can graduate and move on and she just doesn’t know what to do with this boy, especially when he starts showing up after her shifts to walk her to the bus stop. Over the course of many walks, Winter slowly starts to let down her guard. Cade, ever persistent, doesn’t give up until he has the promise of a date.

While I didn’t swoon over the entire book, Cade was definitely swoonworthy. First, he’s a chef in training. And because of tragic events in their past, he helps his sister in raising his niece. A cook and has tea parties with little girls…

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If I had any issues with this book it was mostly on the side of Winter. While I admire her for supporting herself and pushing her way through college, there comes a point where it’s okay to ask/accept help. It doesn’t make you weak and it doesn’t make you less of an independent person. These were things Winter just couldn’t understand and it just caused problems everywhere. It was hard to feel sorry for her towards the end because she was the one putting herself in that situation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. The chemistry was real and I felt it between the characters. I like how Walsh took the time to show that Cade wanted to get to know Winter, it wasn’t just instant lust in a “let’s have sex now” kind of way that plagues the NA genre. Their banter and time spent getting to know each other was what made this book for me. And I also liked the overall idea of following your own dreams and not planning your life around someone else. 

A solid debut from Brighton Walsh and I look forward to reading more of her work. 

A big thank you to Berkley Books for allowing me to participate in this blog tour.

ARC Review: When We Met by A.L. Jackson, Molly McAdams, Tiffany King, & Christina Lee

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Publisher: NAL Trade
400 Pages

Today’s premiere New Adult authors combine their talents to tell four original stories from inside one house.

When four girls decide to live off campus together as juniors at a college in Michigan, they expect it to be their best year yet. Little do they know, it’s a year that will change the rest of their lives.

BEHIND HER EYES by A.L. Jackson
Unable to live down her ex-boyfriend’s deception, Misha is determined to avoid betrayal. When, the new guy next door, Darryn starts to get under her skin, her defenses start to crumble. But trusting Darryn seems impossible, especially if he’s not sure he can trust himself.

SAVING ME by Molly McAdams
On the outside, Indy is always ready for a party—but inside she’s breaking. Kier makes a weekly routine of saving the girl next door from herself on Saturday nights… but when will she be ready to remember him on Sunday morning?

FOULING OUT by Tiffany King
Working at a sports bar, Courtney has become a pro at sidestepping propositions from arrogant jocks—which makes her a more elusive catch for campus basketball star Dalton than he expected. But when he falls for the saucy waitress, Dalton will have to rethink his game plan to prove he’s not the jerk Courtney expects.

BENEATH YOUR LAYERS by Christina Lee
In order to ace her fashion internship, Chloe must team up with local college dropout and set builder, Blake—much to her chagrin. But after some "hands-on" experience, Chloe will have to ask herself if Blake factors into her carefully laid plans…

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A collection of four short stories based around a group of friends living in the same house. 

Behind Her Eyes by A.L. Jackson: 3 stars. I just want to start off by saying that you should not refer to one of your main characters as ‘boy-man-god’ every time you want to describe him. It was funny the first time but then it just got to be too much. 

Misha was burned by her first love. Her trust shattered in an instant. Then she meets Darryn, literally the boy next door. Soon Misha finds herself trusting someone again, feeling safe. But like most stories, Darryn is keeping a secret from Misha, one that shows her that you can’t trust anyone. It was a cute story about learning to trust yourself and others. 

Saving Me by Molly McAdams: 4 stars. Adams was the only author in this bunch that I hadn’t read before and I had heard mixed reviews of her writing. But in all honestly, her story was my favorite. 

Indy likes to spend her nights partying at the frat house next door, just getting lost in everything. More often than not, those nights end up with her safe in her bed with no memory of how she got there. Kier is the boy who puts her there. Every party he is there making sure she’s safe. I adored Kier and how patient he was with Indy. The little things he did, without her ever knowing, were so adorable. And the fact that he wasn’t doing any of it for credit. Indy never remembered him in the morning. Oh, how many times he wanted to tell her, but was afraid she wasn’t ready for that. So he took it slow, bidding his time and a friendship grew. The writing style and pacing really made me interested in reading more of McAdams work.

Fouling Out by Tiffany King: 4 stars. King was the reason I was so excited when I received this in the mail. She tells a story of old friends, first loves, and chances missed. Courtney and Dalton have a past, one that Courtney wants to forget. He was the one that got away and it kills her to admit it. Now he’s the star of their college’s basketball team and she’s working at the local sports bar. 

Dalton wants to get to know the girl who slipped away from him when he was younger. It was his fault that things got as strained as they did between the two of them. Pressure from his father to focus on his game left little time for anything else. But first, he has to figure out how to prove to Courtney that he’s not just the spoiled jock everyone thinks he is. I loved Courtney and Daltons relationship. His blatant flirting and her feisty comebacks made for a fun exchange to read. 

Beneath Your Layers by Christina Lee: 3 stars. Lee tells a story about two opposites coming together. The classic opposites attract. Chloe has her life perfectly planned out and getting glowing marks on her internship project is where everything starts. She comes up with this brilliant idea but just needs a little extra help getting there. Enter Blake, the complete opposite of Chloe. College drop-out, messy, nothing planned in life. 

When Blake offers to help Chloe, she’s hesitant at first. Nothing about him seems trustworthy and her future depends on this project. They fight, they don’t see eye to eye, and they’re extremely attracted to each other. Chloe was a little too uppity for me, I understood why, but it still kept me from bonding with her. However, I loved Blake’s brashness. He had a hard edge to him and he wasn’t just this perfect boy who did sweet things. He was vulgar and rough but he tried and in the end, that’s what is important.

Overall, this was a nice collection of stories and I enjoyed every one. They all flowed nicely and worked well together. It was believable that this was the story of a group of friends and a glimpse into their lives. 

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.