Book Release Blitz + Giveaway: Finding Perfect by Kendra C. Highley

I am super excited to be joining Xpresso Book Tours on their book blitz of Finding Perfect by Kendra C. Highley. This is the first title I will have read from Highley, but the cover and the description have my interest peaked!

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:

Release Date: September 14, 2015
Publisher: Entangled Crush
199 Pages 

How far will you go for perfection?

For "Perfect Paige" Westfeld, today is "D" Day. As in, she just got one on her calculus test. With her dreams of Stanford, her reputation, and her parents' expectations at stake, Paige needs to find a way to save face before everything she's worked for goes up in flames.

Ben Franklin (yes, he's related) is from the wrong side of town, with the wrong clothes and the wrong kind of life. He also knows an opportunity when he sees one, and he'll be happy to tutor Paige-if she makes him into the kind of guy her best friend, the hottest girl in school, will date.

It's the perfect arrangement. And Paige is determined not even the inconvenient-and utterly imperfect-attraction simmering between her and Ben will ruin it... 

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The Songs of Finding Perfect

I’m one of those writers who has to have music in order to write. But it’s more than that—I have to have a playlist, specific to each book, complete with songs that the major characters. The playlist for this book was really important: Paige is all about her music, and Ben loves it, too. I needed songs that pointed to who they were, inside and out. So what did I listen to? Here’s fifteen songs from the list:

1. “Demons” by Imagine Dragons

2. “Radioactive” cover (Imagine Dragons) by William Joseph

3.  “Here With Me” by Susie Suh and Robert Koch

4. “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay

6. “I Lived” by One Republic

7. “Stolen Dance” by Milky Chance

8. “Love Love Love” by Of Monsters and Men

9. “Wrapped Around Your Finger” by The Police

10. “Every Breaking Wave” by U2

11. “Heartlines” by Florence + Machine

12. “Iridescent” by Linkin Park

13. “Stay” by Rihanna (feat. Mikky Ekko)

14. “Fix You” by Coldplay

15. “With or Without You” by U2

“So why are we doing this again?” he called.

Even though he had no idea what she had in mind for this little stage play, he’d gone along with good humor. Hell, he was even washing her car for real. Which was funny because a clean car was beside the point in this plan.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing and all will become crystal clear.”

He gave her a long, weird look, then shrugged and went back to work. Paige joined him but spent part of her time focused on the street corner. Any minute now…

“Your tires are low,” Ben said, peeking at her around the front bumper. “If you have an air compressor, I could air them up for you.”

She propped her fist on her hip. “Does this look like the kind of house that keeps an air compressor on hand?”

He made a face, then laughed. “No, this looks like the kind of house where they call the dealership for help.”

“Exactly.”

They worked in silence until—there! Paige snapped to get his attention just as Zoey turned onto her street. Ben looked at her, and from the startled expression, she knew she was going to have to coach him through every second of this close encounter.

She gave him a stern look. “Take off your shirt.”

His already flushed face turned a deeper shade of red. “What? No way!”

Zoey had pulled up to the curb, and the BMW idled while she dipped out of view, probably to grab her purse. They only had a few seconds, and desperate times called for desperate measures. Paige stalked over to the hose and, under the guise of washing the suds off her car, “accidentally” sprayed Ben right in the chest.

His eyes popped wide open as he stared down at his soaked shirt. “Why?” he growled under his breath.

“Off,” Paige growled back, then turned to greet Zoey. “Hey! Thanks for letting me borrow your dress for the party next weekend.”

Zoey handed her a dress bag, looking at something beyond Paige’s left shoulder. “Yeah, sure.”

Zoey didn’t say anything else, and Paige hazarded a look behind her. As ordered, Ben had stripped off his shirt and oh…my…God.

Okay, so she had guessed he had nice shoulders under those T-shirts after all the work at the tire store, and she’d definitely copped a feel when they’d cuddled on the back porch, but she couldn’t have known he was that ripped. He was lean—leaner than most of the football players anyway—but he made the most of what he had, from the tight biceps and defined pecs, right down to the hard, flat stomach and the tantalizing trail of light brown hair running from his navel into the waistband of his shorts…which, oh hell, were riding low on his hips.

She didn’t want to blink so she could keep staring. Jesus.

Doing a great job of pretending he didn’t notice them hanging on his every move, he reached across the top of the Mustang to soap up the roof. He was a quick study, for sure, stretching in ways that showed off his arms and shoulders. Then he walked over to the bucket and very deliberately bent down to soak the sponge. She might need to sit down. His back was just as good as his front.

She’d created a monster. A very hot, slightly wet monster.

________________________

 

Big thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me to participate in this book tour!

 

Tasty Virtual Book Tour + Giveaway: Naked by Stacey Trombley

Hey guys, I so happy to be part of the Tasty Book Tours party for Naked by Stacey Trombley. This is the debut novel by Trombley and it had me intrigued strictly by the cover alone.You can find the rest of the tour stops here.

Naked

by Stacey Trombley

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:

Release Date: July 7, 2015

Publisher: Entangled Teen

304 Pages

The best place to hide is in a lie...

I could never fit in to the life my parents demanded. By the time I was thirteen, it was too much. I ran away to New York City...and found a nightmare that lasted three years. A nightmare that began and ended with a pimp named Luis. Now I am Dirty Anna. Broken, like everything inside me has gone bad.

Except that for the first time, I have a chance to start over. Not just with my parents but at school. Still, the rumors follow me everywhere. Down the hall. In classes. And the only hope I can see is in the wide, brightly lit smile of Jackson, the boy next door. So I lie to him. I lie to protect him from my past. I lie so that I don't have to be The Girl Who Went Bad.

The only problem is that someone in my school knows about New York.

Someone knows who I really am.

And it's just a matter of time before the real Anna is exposed...

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This was one book where the cover drew me in. It was so simple, yet so completely raw. I just had to know what this book was about. Naked tells the story of Anna Rodriguez- a girl who ran away from home at the age of thirteen only to become a prostitute in New York City after meeting up with a man named Luis. In her naivety, Anna looks to Luis as some sort of savior, even after he sells her to another man like she's some sort of good. When Anna is arrested, a caring social worker takes her back home and tries to help her readjust to "normal" life. But the problem is, there was a reason Anna left and that reason seems to still be there.

I know this isn't the first book of it's kind, but it was the first book that I read involving teenage prostitution. It was a very gritty world that Trombley constructed, half that we viewed in flashbacks and half that we viewed in real time. There was her past in New York and then her present as a high school student back at home. But unfortunately Anna's reentry into her life isn't as smooth as one would like. Among the lies and the rumors that follow her around, someone knows her secret.

Anna was a complex character and it was hard at times to really understand her. The author waited forever to tell us the reasons Anna ran away and what exactly happened to her. We got flashes throughout the book, but nothing concrete. It made it hard to sympathize with her when there were no explanations for her actions. Another thing that bothered me was the constant reminder that Luis "saved" her. Almost on every page we were reminded of this fact to the point that I really got tired of hearing about it. Her naivety was showcased throughout the entire book. Anna was extremely frustrating but considering that she was raised in an unloving household and then lived as a prostitute, it's no wonder her personality was a little off. 

Throw in a high school setting and it's Mean Girls all over again. Anna is the outcast who finds safety in other outcasts including an adorable nerd boy named Jackson. Jackson was the silver lining of this book, which wasn't shocking considering he was the silver lining for Anna. He rounded out her harsh edges and made her a warm character. The whole time you just wanted her to tell him the truth because you just knew it was going to come out at the worst time. 

There were other characters that helped make this book more than just angst - her other friends, the dog, her mom, even the social worker. All played pivotal parts in helping Anna come to terms with her past. Overall, an interesting read about a taboo topic.

Big thanks to Tasty Book Tours for allowing me to participate in this book tour!

Tasty Virtual Book Tour + Giveaway: Accidentally In Love (Friends First #3) by Laura Drewry

 

Hey guys, I so happy to be part of the Tasty Book Tours party for Accidentally in Love, the third book in the Friends First series.This was the first book in the series that I've read but it definitely has me wanting to read the others. Check out the other stops of the tour here

Accidentally in Love (Friends First #3)

by Laura Drewry

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:

Release Date: June 16, 2015

Publisher: Loveswept

298 Pages

Fans of Jill Shalvis and Susan Mallery will love Laura Drewry’s warm and humorous new Friends First romance, a sexy romp about a good cop and a bad girl playing hard to get.

Ellie Palmer and cops don’t mix, and getting pulled over by Officer Brett Hale—again—doesn’t help. Neither does being forced to take a safe-driving course with him. Brett’s by-the-book attitude leaves Ellie ice-cold, and his rock-hard body won’t change that. Still, the more time she spends with the guy, the more she finds herself warming up to his unexpected charms.

Even though Brett comes off like a boy scout, Ellie has sparked something he wants badly enough to get him to rethink his past mistakes. But when her ex shows up, Brett makes it his mission to keep Ellie safe in the here and now. His gut tells him the guy’s trouble, and Ellie must agree, because she doesn’t complain when Brett pulls her close. To keep her safe, though, he’ll have to choose between breaking her heart . . . and breaking the rules.

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Local good boy cop meets smart ass rule breaker in the next installment of the Friends First series. This was not only my first book from Drewry, it was also the first one I picked up from the series. I just really love starting them in the middle. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm really happy I read it.

Ellie just can't catch a break. She has a bit of a lead foot when it comes to driving, and when she's pulled over again, she realizes that her license has been suspended. This is the last thing that she needs - she needs her car. It doesn't help that the officer who pulled her over is part of her friend circle, even though to call the two of them friends would be a stretch.

Brett lives by the rules. As a cop, it's all he knows. He's pulled Ellie over more times than he can count and while he knows he's just doing his job, he just can't understand Ellie's animosity toward him. When circumstances throw them together for the foreseeable future, Brett starts to see a side of Ellie that she tries hard to keep hidden.

I am a sucker for stories where they couple were friends first. There's a foundation that's built up and you feel the connection between the two just grow. This was true for Ellie and Brett. Animosity turned into respect until neither of them knew what hit them. When someone from Ellie's past comes back and threatens the safety of herself and her friends, Brett steps up, placing himself directly in the line of attack. Their charade turned reality was a fun story to follow.

I would also like to say that I really thought I had this book pegged. The moment her past came back, I came up with this scenario that I thought for sure the author was going to. But nope, it went somewhere else and managed to completely avoid the over the top drama for the sake of drama that plagues so many in this genre. 

This was a fun, light, read that's perfect for summer. I will definitely be going back and reading the others in this series as I am now interested in how they all got together. 

Big thanks to Tasty Book Tours for allowing me to participate in this book tour!

Tasty Virtual Book Tour + Giveaway: Risk It (Rule Breakers #4) by Jennifer Chance

Hey guys, I so happy to be part of the Tasty Book Tours party for Risk It, the fourth book in the Rule Breakers series. I've enjoyed the other books in this series and am excited to see where Chance takes us next! Check out the other stops of the tour here.

WANT IT

by Jennifer Chance

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: June 2, 2016
Publisher: Loveswept

224 Pages


Jennifer Chance’s Rule Breakers series turns up the heat as a wealthy playboy and a beautiful con artist engage in a high-stakes game of seduction.

As dominating in business as he is in bed, Rand Sterling Winston IV always gets what he wants. And even before he realizes that she’s scammed him into paying triple the cost for her friend’s painting, he wants Dani Michaels. To catch her alone, Rand demands that she personally deliver his purchase. The attraction between them is immediate and electric, and he knows she feels it, too. So when the part-time petty thief rebuffs his advances, he gives her a choice: a night in jail or an evening with him.

Despite her checkered past, Dani has never met someone like Rand: brooding, intense, and oh so tempting. Only a man with a broken soul could make control feel this dangerous. Still, when Rand proposes a no-strings, no-holds-barred affair, Dani’s more than a little intrigued. It’ll be the trickiest con she’s ever run and a chance to indulge her steamiest fantasies—nothing more. But as their encounters grow increasingly intimate, Dani uncovers a vulnerable side to Rand’s steely exterior and opens her heart to the ultimate risk.

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Rand didn’t try to stop her as she exited his office, the door to which was fortunately only locked  from the inside. He didn’t say anything at all, in fact, and she felt the familiar rush of satisfaction, also spiced by the familiar taste of danger. This man was bad for her. He made her want to do foolish things.

But if they were foolish things that he couldn’t catch, well . . .

She’d made it all the way to the outer office when she glanced over to the lights on Pearson’s desk. They were flashing red now, but she didn’t think too much about that, given that the woman was gone and there was no one manning the phones. Then she punched the elevator button, and that flashed red as well.

Flashing red elevator buttons were never good.

Shit.

Dani turned to see Rand silhouetted in the doorway of his office, the rain still pounding the glass of the windows behind him. It looked really cold out there, cold and wet. Which wasn’t going to be any fun at all, she had a feeling.

“Miss Michaels, it appears you have removed something from my office.” He held up the letter opener. “I’d thought I’d been quite clever, watching you as closely as I was. But once again, you have proven me wrong.”

Dani shrugged. “Score one for the con.” By his own admission, Rand hadn’t been the one to catch her. The flashing lights on Pearson’s desk console must be some sort of tech, quite a few levels up from the jobs she usually ran. And who microchipped crystal bunnies anyway, for the love of God?

Still, that didn’t mean she had to give in gracefully. He wanted to find the silly thing, that was on him.

Dani lifted her chin as Rand approached, his gaze drifting over her. She felt its scorching heat as he lingered on her neck, her breasts, her legs. “Now where could you have hidden something of mine?” he murmured. “Not your purse, I think. Too simple.”

That did make her smile. “Simple is sometimes smart.”

“And nobody would accuse you of not being smart—usually. And yet, you could have just walked away from my office without any memento at all, and guaranteed that you’d never see me again. Why didn’t you do that, I wonder?” Rand was close enough now to touch her, and he lifted his left hand to Dani’s temple, sliding it down until his fingers rested lightly on her neck, just over the point where her pulse was thumping quickly. Rand’s smile was all the acknowledgement he gave of her reaction, but it was his other hand she focused on as he traced the collar of her zip-fronted dress down, down, until his fingers caressed the small chrome pull between her breasts.

“I seem to recall this was zipped down just slightly further,” he said. “You’ll forgive me if I notice such things.” And with a quick, efficient move, he dipped his fingers into the vee of her neckline and drew out the tiny crystal rabbit, holding it up to the light. His gaze never left hers, however. If he’d tracked the spike in her pulse when his soft fingers had grazed her breasts, he gave no indication.

Dani smiled coolly, also not breaking eye contact. “Well, you got me. Losers walk, so I’m outtie.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not quite so simple as that.”

Rand’s voice was deliberately slow, lazy. As if he knew with each passing word her tension level would ratchet up a notch. “The system is alarmed to notify security automatically in the event of any breach, and given the nature of the work we do here, a uniformed police officer is on duty at all times. Those individuals are even now on their way up to arrest you, as a matter of standard procedure. I can call them off, of course. And I’m more than happy to do so.” His smile grew a little more certain, and Dani felt her back go up. “In exchange for dinner.”

She blinked at him, startled. “You’re going to have me arrested if I don’t go out with you?”

“Not at all.” Rand bent closer, his gaze never leaving hers. “I’m going to have you arrested for attempting to steal an item of extreme sentimental value from me. You will spend the night in jail as I decide what charges I’m willing to press for such a violation of my trust and my personal sense of security.” His lips twisted cynically, but the interest in his eyes was very real. He weighed the small crystal rabbit in his hand as if it were gold bullion. “Or, if you agree to have dinner with me, I’ll call off the police. It’s your choice.”


Dani sighed and shook her head, then leaned up on her toes to caress Rand’s lips with hers,
and cup his chin with her hand. He really did have the most unbelievably beautiful mouth, she thought. It fit the rest of his criminally gorgeous face to a tee. She sighed as she eased back down on her platform heels, her fingers dropping to trace his lapel, smoothing his perfect suit against his perfect body. Then she smiled and met his gaze again, noting the hard, intense shot of victory in his eyes.

“I’ll take my chances in jail.”

-----------------------------------

So who wants more? Don't forget to check back within the next few days when I will be posting my review of RISK IT!

Big thanks to Tasty Book Tours for allowing me to participate in this book tour!