Wicked Fallout (Pretty Wicked, #2) by Kelly Charron
Wicked Fallout by Kelly Charron
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Wicked Fallout is the second book in the Pretty Wicked series by Kelly Charron. In the first book of the series, Pretty Wicked, readers were introduced to fifteen year old Ryann who on the outside seemed like the perfect teenager, a straight A student, a cheerleader and always followed the rules and listened to her parents. However, Ryann was harboring one huge secret, she’d always been obsessed with serial killers and had the urge building inside her to try to become one herself.
Ryann was no stranger to killing though, she’d actually had killed another young girl a few years before when the girl was very badly injured so instead of getting help Ryann ended her life. Ryann’s taste for blood had grown and since her father was a police officer she’d done her homework and thought she was ready to avoid the police and start her killing spree just like her idols.
Now in Wicked Fallout we pick up with Ryann twelve years after her murderous spree having spent the time locked up in prison. Ryann finds that there’s a small chance that she could possibly be released from prison if she cooperates with a psychological exam. Forensic psychiatrist Nancy Clafin is brought in to do an evaluation of Ryann and has only a few weeks to find if Ryann has truly changed or should spend her life behind bars.
I have to say first and foremost that I decided to give Wicked Fallout 4.5 stars. The only reason I took the half star away was due to starting this one off thinking wow, we’re not going to see Ryann on the loose and running wild? This one could turn out boring after the first book…. Boy can I now say that I was wrong. It didn’t take long at all for Kelly Charron to weave her story and have me completely hooked on finding out just what would happen next in Ryann’s story.
The book changes the point of view between Ryann and Nancy all throughout as they begin their sessions. During this time the reader is taken back and reminded of just what Ryann did within the first book as they evaluate each murder. Getting both sides from the doctor and Ryann was enough that I just didn’t want to put this book down and couldn’t wait to find out if Ryann was going to be let out and begin her murderous spree yet again. Now after two chapters in Ryann’s life I can’t wait to see what the author can come up with next if she continues the series.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel
Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Angie Dovage is like most people would be, a bit curious as to who her new neighbors are and what they will be like. When Angie runs into Reece Fernandez at the bus stop her curiosity is piqued even more by the good looking strange boy. Angie takes it upon herself to follow Reece and find out just what is behind the mysterious new boy.
What Angie ends up finding about Reece would send most people running and screaming. Reece is not a normal human boy, he’s a harbinger of death. When a death happens Reece feeds off the energy of the dying due to a curse he’s been living with for centuries. But Reece is not the only supernatural in town and Angie finds herself in danger with Reece vowing to protect her.
The one thing that I would complain about with Black Bird of the Gallows is that starting off it definitely had that feel of let’s check off all the young adult fantasy expectations. The beginning of the story had flashes of Twilight to it which had me wondering if I’d find any originality buried within the pages. Of course too that brings me to the warning of the instalove that bother a lot of people since it’s a typical oh the new boy is cute start but eventually there are more reasons added to the relationship.
Thankfully the story of the battle between good and evil within the pages of this one did bring a bit of newness to it which made this one an interesting read. After reading this one I’ll certainly be looking at crows and bees a bit differently so the author certainly got a bit creative with the supernatural side of the story which ended up making this one worth the read instead of just checking off what is expected in a young adult novel.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Irresistible You by Kate Meader Release Blast with giveaway
Three estranged sisters inherit their late father’s failing hockey franchise
and are forced to confront a man’s world, their family’s demons,
and the battle-hardened ice warriors skating into their hearts.
IRRESISTIBLE YOU
Chicago Rebels #1
Kate Meader
Releasing Aug 14, 2017
PocketStar
Hot
in Chicago series author Kate
Meader returns with her all new, scorching Chicago Rebels hockey series, featuring her signature “steamy sex
scenes, colorful characters, and riveting dialogue” (Romantic Times).
Three estranged sisters inherit their late father’s failing hockey franchise
and are forced to confront a man’s world, their family’s demons, and the
battle-hardened ice warriors skating into their hearts.
Harper Chase has just become the most powerful woman in the NHL after the death
of her father Clifford Chase, maverick owner of the Chicago Rebels. But the
team is a hot mess—underfunded, overweight, and close to tapping out of the
league. Hell-bent on turning the luckless franchise around, Harper won’t let
anything stand in her way. Not her gender, not her sisters, and especially not
a veteran player with an attitude problem and a smoldering gaze designed to
melt her ice-compacted defenses.
Veteran center Remy “Jinx” DuPre is on the downside of a career that’s seen him
win big sponsorships, fans’ hearts, and more than a few notches on his stick.
Only one goal has eluded him: the Stanley Cup. Sure, he’s been labeled as the
unluckiest guy in the league, but with his recent streak of good play, he knows
this is his year. So why the hell is he being shunted off to a failing hockey
franchise run by a ball-buster in heels? And is she seriously expecting him to
lead her band of misfit losers to a coveted spot in the playoffs?
He’d have a better chance of leading Harper on a merry skate to his bed…
He looked uncomfortable standing there, balancing on his skates, ready to spring for the door. But she knew he wouldn’t sit while she stood because his mother had raised him to respect women. Something fluttered in her chest at that notion. DuPre might be a lot of things—ladies’ man, good ol’ boy, thorn in her side—but she suspected he would never hurt someone weaker than himself.
“You’ve got three minutes, Harper.”
“Do you remember what I told you in Boston, DuPre?”
“Somethin’ about needin’ me to instill leadership and help these boys get to the playoffs.” Warm honey flowed through her veins at the timbre of his voice. She could have sworn her panties slipped an inch.
“I did say that. I meant it. And I thought you understood.”
He rubbed his chin, the scrape against stubble delicious to her ears. All he was missing was a Stetson, a blade of grass, and some flighty piece in a cropped tank and Daisy Dukes. “I understood the words because you’d put them together in a highly entertainin’ way, and to certain ears, they might make sense. Then I told you what needed to happen to ensure my cooperation.”
This nonsense stopped here. “Is that why you’re playing like you can barely walk, much less skate? What’s wrong, old man? Feeling a touch of arthritis in your joints?”
For a brief moment, she thought she might have found his weakness: vanity. But no. He merely threaded his arms over his chest—over the Rebels logo of a big C with a hockey stick and a cutlass crossed behind it—and cocked his head.
“You’re gonna have to use a little more finesse, Harper.”
More surprising than the fact Remy had used the word finesse correctly in a sentence was that he didn’t seem annoyed with her. He seemed . . . amused. As if she were a toy he could happily bat around like a kitten would a semiconscious mouse.
Applause sounded, signifying the beginning of the final period. Neither of them moved, hands metaphorically hovering at their hips like Old West gunfighters.
“The trade deadline,” she said, feeling livid and helpless. “Give me that.”
“The all-star game.”
Three months. The all-star game, held in late January, was traditionally viewed as the halfway point of the season. On the cusp of the busy trade period, it led into a month of bartering and haggling as everyone lined up their teams for the big push to the playoffs.
At her hesitation, he leaned in, those cobalt blues flashing. It wasn’t enough to unholster her gun; she should have already taken her shot, and that delay was her undoing.
“Would you rather three months of my full effort or a whole season of my skatin’ like I’m playin’ squirt hockey?”
“You can’t seriously be reducing this to a game of ‘would you rather’?”
His voice dropped to an intimate tone, her panties another inch with it. “If you shake on it now, I’ll begin that full effort tonight.”
The siren blared in the distance, followed by the home crowd’s roar. Five zip. Harper didn’t enjoy being blackmailed, but she enjoyed losing even less.
She thrust her hand forward impatiently. He took it in his firm grasp. That electricity setting her skin aflame was her body telling her she’d made the right decision. Nothing else.
“You have a game to finish.”
He held on, and now he inclined his head so close she could count each and every one of those pretty-boy eyelashes. Her pulse rate spiked, and she was certain he could sense it. Sense her heart thumping rabbit kicks, her vein pulsing in her throat.
“We’ve shaken on it now, minou, so don’t you dare think about welshing. I might sound like I spend my spare time spitballin’ from the rockin’ chair on my porch, but don’t let my accent fool you none. I’m not the kind of man you want for an enemy. We clear?”
She might have rolled her eyes if she wasn’t just a wee bit impressed by his chutzpah. Still, he needed to be informed that while he might have won this battle, the war was far from over.
“Try not to trip on your way to the rink, DuPre.”
He laughed, deep and robust, clearly delighted with himself. Idiot. His thumb pressed against her inner wrist, and a crackle of energy leeched from him into her body.
“You feel that, Harper?”
She snatched back her hand. “If you mean my goodwill evaporating with every second you’re standing here, then, yeah, I feel it.”
“I think we’re havin’ a thing.”
They were. Oh, God, they were. “Why are you still here again?”
His mouth curved. “Lady, I got the distinct feelin’ these next few months are gonna be fun.”
He picked up his stick and, with more grace than a six-foot-two brute wearing skates on dry land should possess, he left the locker room.
**Special release week price of just $1.99 **
Originally
from Ireland, USA Today bestselling author Kate Meader cut her
romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some
Harlequins thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners,
oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s
there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemporary romance with alpha
heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.
The Truth about PS Boyfriends by Sunniva Dee book blitz with giveaway
The Truth about Porn Star Boyfriends
Sunniva Dee
Publication date: August 15th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
I guess I just forgot.
To ask him what he did for a living, I mean.
And by the time I did, I was in—balls deep, as he’d call it.
He was the perfect boyfriend.
Attentive, gorgeous, guessing my every wish and fulfilling them.
The sex was earth-shattering.
He even dealt with my crazy mom the way no one else could.
He popped the question, God, such a perfect guy.
There was just one issue:
He f*cked other girls on camera for a living.
How the hell do you deal with that?
—
EXCERPT:
I slept over at his house. I did. I just couldn’t go home after everything he told me. I didn’t accept the invite to come with him on the boat today though. I didn’t ask him if he was going without me either. If he is, wouldn’t he be inviting some “friends,” some Alicias or Silks? I don’t want to know.
It’s not difficult to get my shifts back at Mintrer’s. With Il Signore’s nonna at the hospital, the family spends as much time at her bedside as they can.
Mom calls.
She sounds okay.
I need to verify in person even though Paul is next door, hopefully keeping her busy with his garden statues and homemade fountains. He likes my quirky mother because he’s quirky himself. That’s my guess anyway. I don’t think I can handle any new rocks hurled at Status Quo at the moment, especially not from Mom.
The boat is ready.
I only returned to my house two hours again, and this is what Ciro texts me? I roll my eyes. Frieda lowers the bagel she held up for me—everything or just sesame seeds?—and says, “That isn’t the porn star, is it?”
“Yeah, it’s Drake Constantine.” I pull out the syllables mocking him even though each sound opens my chest again.
“Well, at least he’s got a nice artist name. He’s no Jake daBoner or Cassius Erectus.”
I snort.
“Drake Constantine boned me in the ass last night,” she quotes as if from Shakespeare. She gazes beyond the bagel she now holds up like a skull.
I chuckle a little bit, and Frieda smiles. Smiles so wide it makes me feel guilty over everything I’ve put her through. I know she suffers with me. She didn’t sleep last night knowing I was with Ciro.
“What’s he saying?”
“He tells me he’s got the boat ready.”
“For that Catalina trip?”
“Mhmm.”
“You’re not doing that too, are you?” She drops the halves of the bagel into the toaster.
“Not the everything,” I say. “Can I have the sesame seed one instead?”
She presses her mouth together in a stern line but listens and fishes the everything one out and drops the sesame bagel in instead. “Happy now?”
“Very.”
“You’re not going, right?”
“No.” I want to slap my heart and my body for agreeing that we should say yes. “I already told you. I’m visiting Mom this morning, and then I’m working. If I get to do some overtime this weekend, I’m happy. I need the money, and I really don’t want to mope around the house.”
I’ll wait for you if you’re asleep.
I said I wasn’t going. Can’t. We
I hit “send” before I can finish the “We’re over, remember?” part. It was easier to yell it to him when I was furious. Today, I don’t know how I feel.
Why can’t you? He doesn’t ask about the We part? He knows.
“He’s so stubborn,” I murmur and type again.
Because, when are you seeing someone else for a f*** fest?
He deserves that I’m being crude. Hell, he’s being crude every hour of every work day.
He takes a moment to reply. Long enough for Frieda to scoot a plate and the tub of cream cheese in front of me. “Stop texting with him. You’re only dragging it out. You know that, right? I thought you’d blocked him.”
“He has a work phone too. On-freaking-call cell. Ha!”
Author Bio:
Between studies, teaching, and advising, Sunniva has spent her entire adult life in a college environment. Most of her novels are new adult romance geared toward smart, passionate readers with a love for eclectic language and engaging their brain as well as their heart while reading.
Born in the Land of the Midnight Sun, the author spent her early twenties making the world her playground. Southern Europe: Spain, Italy, Greece–Argentina: Buenos Aires, in particular. The United States finally kept her interest, and after half a decade in Los Angeles, she now lounges in the beautiful city of Savannah.
Sometimes, Sunniva writes with a paranormal twist (Shattering Halos, Stargazer, and Cat Love). At other times, it’s contemporary (Pandora Wild Child, Leon’s Way, Adrenaline Crush, Walking Heartbreak, and Dodging Trains, coming in late March 2016).
This author is the happiest when her characters let their emotions run off with them, shaping her stories in ways she never foresaw. She loves bad-boys and good-boys run amok, and like in real life, her goal is to keep the reader on her toes until the end of each story.
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instagram / Tsu.co
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Cover Reveal: Renegades by K. Gorman
Renegades
K. Gorman
Publication date: September 15th 2017
Genres: Adult, Science Fiction
The Shadows have taken over, and she is the only one who can fight back.
Genetically engineered from birth, Karin Makos’s powers have made her the Alliance’s most wanted person. With her sister still missing, and only a cryptic notebook left behind for clues, the mystery of her past is going to take a lot more time and resources than they have to unravel it.
And there’s a bigger problem looming. Keeping their promise to heal Ethan’s stepfather and the rest of the people on the Ozark puts them right past Caishen station and its Alliance allies—and there might be another force on their tail.
After the crew split apart on a wild chase that puts Karin in the hot seat, it’ll take all of their strength and ingenuity to bring them back together. With enemies gathering in the wings, a desperate, heavy-handed station commander hard on their tail, and the Shadows an ever-present threat, they must race against the odds and scramble to fight their way out.
Don’t miss the release day 99¢ flash sale on Sept 30th!
—
Author Bio:
Originally from the west coast of Canada, K. Gorman has switched to the west coast of Taiwan, where she broadcasts a steady stream of Science Fiction and Fantasy stories. When not writing, she enjoys long rides through Taichung on U-Bikes, marathons Twin Peaks and Battlestar Galactica, and is slowly turning Final Fantasy VIII’s Squall into a card-playing god before she runs through the rest of the game.
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Amazon / Instafreebie / Instagram
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