Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Cover reveal and Giveaway: Time Will Tell by Chantal Fernando





Title: Time Will Tell (Maybe #3)

Author: Chantal Fernando

Release Date: September 2014

Hosted by: Forever Me Romance





Synopsis


Be spontaneous, they say.



That's how I ended up on the back of a stranger's bike.



A sexy, tall, tattooed stranger, but a stranger nonetheless.



How was I to know that a chance meeting with this man, Xander Kane, was going to change my life?








Author Links



  



Monday, January 27, 2014

Cover Reveal for Destroyed by Pepper Winters



Destroyed - Expected release date 02/24/2014

Synopsis:

Destroyed by Pepper Winters - Coming Feb 24, 2014

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/KbAnsg

She’s a woman with a dirty secret.

I’m complicated. Not broken or ruined or running from a past I can’t face. Just complicated. For good reason.

I thought my life couldn’t get any more tangled in deceit and confusion. But I hadn’t met him. I hadn’t been sucked into his lies or taught to run from everything that he is. Instead, I let him ensnare me, seduce me, trap me with secrets—Hazel Hunter

He’s a man with a killer secret.

I’ve never pretended to be good or deserving. Despite the shadows I live in, I’m ultimately a slave to my secrets and that gives me a free pass to chase who I want, be who I want, act how I want.

I didn’t have time to lust after a woman I had no right to lust after. I told myself to shut up and stay hidden. But how could I deny her? How could I deny my one chance at redemption? But then she tried to run. I’d found a cure to my existence and damned if I would let her go—Roan Fox

And secrets silently destroy them.

PROLOGUE
I didn’t believe her when she said she was complicated. 
She didn’t believe me when I said I had secrets. 
I didn’t believe the truth, even when she let me glimpse behind her mask. 
She didn’t believe that I wasn’t strong enough to live with the consequences. 
I thought she was a saint.
She thought I was a sinner. 
Too bad we didn’t try to find the truth. 
We both paid the price.
We destroyed each other.





Pepper Winters Author links
➤ Website
➤ Goodreads
➤ Amazon
➤ Facebook
➤ Twitter









Sempre: Redemption by J.M. Darhower


Book links
Kindle US
Kindle UK
Kindle CA
Kindle AU
Nook
Kobo
ARe
iTunes
Google
IndieBound
BAM
BOOKish
Simon&Schuster
Goodreads

Description
In this thrilling and sexy follow-up to Sempre, two young lovers struggle to keep their relationship intact after they become deeply enmeshed in the dangerous mafia-run crime ring they once tried to overthrow.

Haven Antonelli and Carmine DeMarco have been through a lot. Haven was taken in by Carmine’s father, and with his family’s help, she escaped a gruesome fate. However, saving Haven from the dark intentions of a mafia family cost Carmine a steep price: he was forced to swear loyalty to them.

Now, still passionately in love, Carmine and Haven must face the fall-out of Carmine’s forced service, as Haven discovers terrifying secrets about the family that enslaved both her and her mother—and why she matters so much in this intricate web of lies.

Review
Sempre:  Redemption is book 2 in the Forever series.

I have to start by saying this is the best follow-up book I remember reading.  I also have to add that this is the best mob series ever.  I loved book 1, but the author really outshines with book 2.  I can't sing it's praises enough.  It belongs on your Best of 2013 and Favorites shelves.

The first thing you have to understand when you start to read it is don't even try to predict what is going to happen or what is going on behind the scenes, just strap in and ride the roller coaster.  Be prepared for some very intense feelings.


If someone years before had asked Carmine, what life in Chicago would be like, he would have given them some cliché answer about money, power, and respect, but he knew better now.  La Cosa Nostra wasn't about any of that.

There was so much sacrifice throughout the book.  It was deeply touching.  About 12% I was just overwhelmed by it.  Yes, I had a breakdown.  It was just one of many.




Things change.
Sometimes it's abrupt, knocking you off your feet as life throws a curveball nobody expected, turning worlds upside down and leaving those left behind to pick up the pieces.  But other times, it happens slowly, an hour, or a minute, or a second at a time, so immeasurable no one can pinpoint exactly when it happened.  You find yourself somewhere you've never been, doing things you've never done, being a person you never imagined you would ever be.

My range covered it all-tears, nervousness, sadness, understanding, awe.  The storyline has it all-murder, mystery, love, inspiration, loss and redemption.


"Most people are ruled by petty laws-wear your seat belt, don't take what's not yours.  Catholics follow the Commandments-don't covet they neighbor's wife or take the Lord's name in vain.  Nuns commit themselves to celibacy, lawyers and priests rely on confidentiality, and we, Haven, take a vow of silence and loyalty.  We all live through the same Hell, just with different devils."

One of the biggest stand out points to me is the deep and true love between the three main couples:  Corrado and Celia, Vincent and Maura, Carmine and Haven.  Love like that is so rare and timeless.  Especially in this day and age, it's all about the quick sex.  Devotion isn't even an afterthought much less at the forefront.  It's so refreshing to see the real thing.




Sometimes I lose perspective, but it helps to stop and look around.  I may not have it all, but I have more than enough.  And enough, it seems, is more than most have.

Another aspect that jumped out is that the three men had to face their inner self.  If satisfied, he continued the path he was already on.  If he found he was lacking and capable, he made the corrections necessary to live with himself and welcome a peaceful afterlife.  If he hated his position but was stuck in it, he tried to accept and change what he could and buried what he couldn't.




"Because to men like us, it comes first-before our families, before our friends, before everything, it's La Cosa Nostra."


"Everyone falls sometimes, son, even me, but the trick is to get right back up.  They'll always target the ones who appear vulnerable, so you need to be strong.  Fake it until you make it."


He was fractured, one half of him the still slightly naïve boy who drank himself unconscious to try to forget, the other half the man, numb to everything, who just went through the motions day after day.


Everyone has to love a story that pulls you in, blows you up and then puts you back together differently.  I was so into this story that I couldn't even read another for a couple of days, which is very rare for me.  I'm always right on to the next book immediately.  There are ever-so-many discussion points I would love to make about this series, but it would be impossible to bring them up without giving away spoilers.  I loved the characters, the good and the bad in them, especially Corrado and Vincent.  I loved finding out their backgrounds, what honorable men they were and how they stayed true to themselves.  I loved how Carmine was just incapable of actually living without Haven.  These men have left permanent scars on my heart.  Do yourself a favor and read this as soon as possible.


It's strange how those things work.  One minute you're the servant, then next you're Cinderella, and then...then the story is over and you're forced to close the book.




J.M. Darhower Author Links
Website
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr



About the Author
JM Darhower is the author of the New Adult Sempre series (Sempre & Sempre: Redemption), and the paranormal romance novella, Extinguish. She lives in a tiny town in the Carolinas with her family, where she churns out more words than will ever see the light of day. She has a deep passion for politics and human rights, and when she isn’t writing she’s usually ranting about those things. Chronic crimper with a vulgar mouth, she admits to having a Twitter addiction. You can find her there.


Related Blog Post
Diva Discussions Book Club review of book 1 by Toni
Diva Discussions Book Club review of book 2 by Toni


toni










Friday, January 24, 2014

Sempre by J.M. Darhower





Sempre Book Links
Kindle US
Kindle UK
Kindle CA
Kindle AU
Nook
Kobo
ARe
iTunes
Google
Sony
BOOKish
BAM
bLio
IndieBound
Simon & Schuster
Goodreads



Description #1
A sexy ebook about two seventeen-year-olds—one a victim of human trafficking; the other the son of the man who enslaved her—who fall in love and question everything they ever believed…

Haven Antonelli and Carmine DeMarco grew up under vastly different circumstances. Haven, a second-generation slave, was isolated in the middle of the desert, her days full of hard work and terrifying abuse. Carmine, born into a wealthy Mafia family, lived a life of privilege and excess.

Now, a twist of fate causes their worlds to collide. Entangled in a web of secrets and lies, they learn that while different on the surface, they have more in common than anyone would think.

In a world full of chaos, where money and power rule, Haven and Carmine yearn to break free, but a string of events that began before either of them were born threatens to destroy them instead. Murder and betrayal are a way of life, and nothing comes without a price—especially not freedom. But how much will they have to sacrifice? Can they escape their pasts? And, most of all, what does it mean to be free?

Description #2
Haven Antonelli and Carmine DeMarco had vastly different childhoods. Haven, a second-generation slave, grew up isolated in the middle of the desert, her days full of hard work and terrifying abuse. Carmine, born into a wealthy Mafia family, lived a life of privilege, never having to answer for anything he did.

Both now seventeen, a twist of fate causes their worlds to collide, making them question everything they ever believed. Entangled in a web of secrets and lies, they learn that while different on the surface, they have more in common than anyone would think.



Review
Sempre is book 1 of the Forever series.
I kept hearing from my reading friends how wonderful this book was so I finally decided to read it.
It's sort of a YA book, but it deals with human slavery and Mafia issues.  When I first started the story, I felt it was going to be about Haven's life or maybe Carmine and Haven's love story, but, while it is both of those, I soon discovered this was about many characters and told the story of different points in a life.








DIA
Dia is Carmine's friend.  She looks past his brazen attitude to the good guy under it all.  She's full of spunk and can give as good as she takes.

"Gross.  You need a decent girl to straighten you out."


NICHOLAS
Nicholas and Carmine used to be tight, but they had a falling out.  He is alone and lost searching for a friend.  Nicholas is the jester, the sad clown.

"What do you call a deer with no eyes?  No-eye deer.  Get it?  No idea."

And he learned it from Nicholas, who helped a virtual stranger and got nothing in return.




MIRANDA
Miranda is Haven's mother.  She is a slave who was raped by her master producing Haven.  She only yearns for her daughter to have the life she never had.  Miranda named her daughter after the term safe haven, a fairytale phrase she has heard mentioned and hopes will be a reality for her daughter.

"I dream about it.  When you dream, you can go anywhere.  I always go to the snow."

MAURA
Maura is Carmine's mother.  She spent her life trying to help others and was murdered while pushing to right a wrong.  Her death leaves a gapping whole in the lives of her husband and sons.

"Ama, ridi, sogna-e vai dormire."  
Love, laugh, dream and go to sleep.

I'm tired of seeing so much red.  Maybe then it'll be our time to have peace.




DOMINIC
Dominic is Carmine's brother.  He is the good son.  He probably is the most normal of all the characters and has his own sort of playful wisdom.

"In other words, Twinkle Toes, ignorance is bliss."

"I need fuel, though.  These guns are the only ones I carry and they don't come naturally, little sis."


CELIA
Celia is Carmine's aunt, Vincent's sister and Corrado's wife.  She is no stranger to the goings-on of the family.  She tries to see the joy in life and show her family love.

"If that day hadn't happened, that girl outside would be dead.  You're saving her, and she's healing him."




CORRADO
Corrado is Carmine's uncle, Vincent's brother-in-law, Capo in La Cosa Nostra and dubbed Kevlar Killer by the media.  Corrado is the strong silent type.  He doesn't let his emotions show, and when he does happen to speak, people listen.  His loyalty to LCN is unwavering.  Corrado is one of the characters that I love, and I would really like to get inside his head.

"I should've tried.  I owed her that much."

"I'll take myself and make something up.  You need to get some men over here to clean up this mess before it takes us all down." 


VINCENT
Vincent is Carmine's father, a doctor, son of the previous Boss and Consiglieri to the current boss.  He
never really wanted to be a part of this lifestyle and doesn't wish it upon his sons.  His life is full of regret, remorse, pain and sadness.  The love Vincent has for Maura is epic.  After getting to know Vincent, I see he has always sacrificed in the name of love.

He was in deep with la famiglia.  He lied, cheated, plundered, and slaughtered for them, but one thing he had prided himself on was his loyalty.




CARMINE
Carmine is the Principe, the Mafia Prince.  He is grandson to the previous Boss Antonio DeMarco, son of Consiglieri Vincenzo Roman DeMarco, nephew of Capo Corrado Alphonse Moretti, godson of Boss Salvatore Gerardo Capozzi.  His future teeters on the edge.  He is consumed with anger for his mother's death and constantly acts out.

"Look, it's not because I think you belong to me-it's because I want you to be mine."

"Do you have any idea how important you are to me?  I'm finding myself again because of you.  I never thought it would happen.  My mom used to talk about fate, and I think you're it...you're my fate. You were brought to me."

"Just because some people see us that way doesn't mean it's what we are.  We'll over come our labels together.  They don't matter; they don't make us who we are.  We make us who we are.  Fuck those motherfuckers."


HAVEN
Haven was born to a slave belonging to a member of the Mafia.  Growing up in a desert and living in a barn, her life thus far has mostly been a void.  Thinking that she is nothing, she innocently affects the lives of every character in the book.

"I try not to hope for anything.  If you expect nothing, you aren't disappointed when you get nothing."

A swell of hope surged inside her when the words my girl rolled from his lips.

They were two broken kids, desperate to be whole again, struggling to find balance in a world out of their control.  What's black and white and red all over?  Carmine was, Haven thought.  A soul savagely ripped in half, bleeding out for all to see.  The yin and yang, the good and evil, the love and pain all at odds with each other.  Two sides, two vastly different worlds, but someday they would merge as one.  They had to.  Il tempo guarisce tutti i mali.  Time heals all wounds.




This story contained so many layers, topics, messages, themes:
Of course, human slavery and the American Mafia are big topics.  There is a theme of history repeating itself and destiny.  Many of the characters are so much deeper than they first appear.  A big undercurrent that seems apparent to me is that everyone is struggling.  You don't know a person's mind.  Choices affect your life, your entire future can be changed.  Sometimes, you've done all you can do so you have to step back and let life play out.  Love is the strongest emotion and can overcome all others.  Sacrifice comes easy when someone you love is involved.


Life's a struggle, and it would be easy if it came with an eraser, but it didn't.  What's done is done, as hard as that was to accept.






This book is one of those books that really gets you thinking about life.  I loved it and could hardly wait long enough to write this review before jumping into book 2 Sempre:  Redemption.  I've only heard great things about it also.  So off I go to read book 2.



J.M. Darhower Author Links
Website
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr



About the Author
JM Darhower is the author of the New Adult Sempre series (Sempre & Sempre: Redemption), and the paranormal romance novella, Extinguish. She lives in a tiny town in the Carolinas with her family, where she churns out more words than will ever see the light of day. She has a deep passion for politics and human rights, and when she isn’t writing she’s usually ranting about those things. Chronic crimper with a vulgar mouth, she admits to having a Twitter addiction. You can find her there.


Related Blog Post
Diva Discussions Book Club review of book 1 by Toni
Diva Discussions Book Club review of book 2 by Toni


toni









Cover Reveal for Facade by Ashley Suzanne




Description
Kylee Anderson has all the qualities any man would want; sexy, fun, witty, intelligent and most importantly, she never wants a commitment.

She’s gone the last four years getting exactly what she wants out of life: She’s continued a friendship with her oldest friend in the world, built a new bond with Skylar and Danny, and had the full college experience. 

After graduation, Kylee starts looking for a job where she meets Jacoby Roberts, CEO of the largest real estate development company in Ann Arbor. Just when she thought she was falling for Jacoby and his charm, she was hit with the reality of why it could never be. Not just with him, but with anyone.

Determined to continue down the path of sex without titles, Jacoby will try to break through her shell and win her heart. There’s only one problem; Kylee isn’t that easy to win over. She’s witnessed what happens when you let love interfere with sex, and she’s vowed to never be in that position.

Will Jacoby be able to secure a place in her heart? Will Kylee allow herself to feel the things she’s fighting, or will she keep living behind a façade?

***Mature Audience Only***
**Strong Sexual Content**






Ashley Suzanne's Books Links

Mirage (The Destined Series 1)

Inception (The Destined Series 1.5)

Awakening (The Destined Series 2)

Facade (The Destined Series 3)


Ashley Suzanne Author Links

About the author
Ashley Suzanne is a married mother of three little boys as well as a daughter, aunt, sister, best friend, birth mother, blogger, book whore and author. Ashley is a native to the suburbs of Detroit, with most of her family living in Kentucky and New York.

You can usually find Ashley sitting in bed, with her laptop, playing on Facebook, pretending to write, entering giveaways (she's also a swag whore) or on a football field with her oldest son, Tyler. Yep, not only is she a football fan, she's a football mom!

When she's reading, it's typically something to do with romance, erotica being her favorite genre. Ashley co-owns a blog, 2 Chicks and a Blog, with her GBFF Manda. She's a total fan-girl over a few authors, Pamela Ann, Brooke Cumberland, SE Hall, Madeline Sheehan, Jasinda Wilder, Angela Graham, CM Stunich and Riley Rhea to name a few.

Ashley has no pets, unless you count her children and she is a little OCD. Her favorite color is pink. Her favorite drink is cherry vodka and coke and double chocolate brownies are a must.
She's currently working on her 2nd novel, Awakening, which will follow Mirage (An Amazon Best Seller) and a few other projects.