The Bookish Brunette

Book Babble: I Rarely Read the Back of Books

Bookish Brunette — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:00:19 +0000

BB Book Babble will be a mini mash-up version of the Time Warp posts and BB Thinking Too Hard posts – which haven’t been working out too well due to my spastic ADHD that frequently keeps me from completing any task lasting longer than TEN consecutive minutes.

Babble…

I RARELY read past the first two sentences of the back book cover synopsis. I do this for a couple of reasons…

If I read the ENTIRE synopsis, then I already know FAR too much about the book – and I’m left with very little to look forward too!
If the synopsis can’t catch my attention within the first couple lines, then it’s highly doubtful the actual book will be any different.

I think this is why I rarely have the “preconceived” notions and expectations of what a certain book will or will NOT contain. Because SERIOUSLY… how can I be all high and mighty about something I refused to read right?

Here’s an example:

OH!!! What the FUCK?!?! This book has a chick who is into … DEAD guys?? Like REAL dead guys?

Wait… let’s read on. It’s possible he comes back to life and ends up being a badass zombie. (always the optimist right?)

….

OH DEAR … Oh! Oh. God. No she DIDN’T!!!!

This is when I usually turn the book over, or hit the ” Book Description” button on my kindle. And low and behold – there in black and white is the term “necrophilia”. Ha. Freaking EPIC.

This is my LIFE dude. Seriously.

Favs book quotes of the week…

In another time, she and Wilson would have been the conquering Romans, and I would have been a leader of one of the savage tribes that attacked Rome.
A Different Blue by Amy Harmon

“ Hey, I wonder if there’s some armor in there. If there is we should put it on, like knights.” Barnaby shook his head.“Dude I am not into playing dress up with you.”
Gargoyle – (The Gathering Series, #1) by Lorraine Beaumont

“I’d like to give you a reason to live”
Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

“Anger feels better than fathomless grief. For years I simply wanted to hide from the world and all the pain. Now I want to fight.”
Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Song of the week…

Alive by Adelita’s Way

“And I’ll be hanging on every word you say to me.
Hanging on a feeling that I get,
Cause you make me

Laugh a little louder
Love a little harder.
And I feel alive when I’m with you
Every time it’s something new.
Never knew what love could feel like.”

Books of the week…

Random Book News ( & stuff)…

It’s my LuLu’s 6th birthday today!!!

The #YACrushTourney initial round of voting ends today!!! *cough* Have YOU voted yet???

Zombie Craze 2013 starts in like a WEEK!!! I am SOOOO ill prepared for the awesomeness that I PLANNED!!!

#YACrushTourney #TeamGYP Updates

Bookish Brunette — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:05:46 +0000

Nominations open from May 20 until May 25th!!!

Tweet hashtag #YACrushTourney to support your fav YA authors!!

My fav GYP boys are still tearing up the YA Crush Tournament TOP TEN in: Debut, Realistic Fiction, AND Indie categories!!!

If you haven’t cast your vote – then head over there and CONTRIBUTE dude! I mean seriously… It’s not what your country can do for YOU, but what YOU can do for your country! It’s totally the same thing.

Debut: Pageturners Blog
Realistic Fiction: Fictitious Delicious
Speculative Fiction: Fantasy Book Addict
Indie: Stuck In Books

And do you have your Team Tristan badge? All the cool kids have one yo.

Book Review: A Different Blue by Amy Harmon

Bookish Brunette — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:11:34 +0000

A Different Blue by Amy Harmon

Published: Published March 29th 2013

Blue Echohawk doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn’t attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing.

This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don’t know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can’t love you back might be impossible.

The Bookish Brunette thought:

Blue Echohawk doesn’t know her real name… Abandoned when she was just two years old and taken in by a kind stranger – who then unwillingly leaves her all alone again at the tender age of TEN.

Spending her life fighting for her own survival, when she meets someone who only tries to HELP… she doesn’t know what to do.

Wilson. Oh… Wilson. Redemption, resolution, revolution, relevance. A hero disguised as a regular guy… Complete with a sexy British accent.

Hardened by a tragic life that no one should be forced to endure, Blue Echohawk made me ACHE. There’s no other way to explain her… She’s beautiful, intelligent, darkly witty and amazingly selfless – but she doesn’t realize it. She feels ugly, dark and tainted in her SOUL, even if her face is the opposite.

“I wanted to hate him because he was beautiful in a way I would never be.”

Wilson… There are no words to describe the amazing man that Wilson is, or the hugeness of the role he plays in Blue’s life… So I simply won’t try. But I’m currently trying to convince hubs to perfect his pathetically horrid excuse for a British accent!

The way Any Harmon lets this story unfold is amazing… Most authors would split this book into a two book set – and because of its length it would’ve been an easy feat. I loved that with every flip of the page, another ghastly detail shadowed the previous one and I wondered how this wonderful, talented, beautiful girl would dig herself out of the dark hole she had found herself in.

Witnessing Blue’s story unfold was mesmerizing! I was held captive by Blue’s torrid emotions, her lack of self respect, her constant lashing out and her incessant shame over things she had no control over.

A Different Blue made my heart ACHE, while continuously making laugh aloud, and SOB uncontrollably over the course of the entire book. It was RAW, real, emotional and simply amazing!

Excerpt from THE LIBERTOR by Victoria Scott

Bookish Brunette — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:58:54 +0000

Excerpt from THE LIBERTOR
By Victoria Scott

When I open my eyes, the sun is trying to murder me. It’s shining on my face and making my head pound. Or maybe it’s my hangover that’s giving me the headache, but nonetheless—me and the sun?—we’re not on friendly terms.

Charlie murmurs beside me. My arms are still wrapped around her waist, and I suddenly realize I must have crashed out in her bed last night. If Grams wakes up and finds me here, she’ll run me a bath…and toss in the toaster.

“Morning, babe,” I whisper.

“Morning, hot stuff,” a distinctly male voice responds.

I whip around, my heart racing, and find Max sitting in a chair across the room. “You look so hot when you first wake up,” he says. He raises a hand to his hair. “Got that whole sexy bed head thing going on.”

Charlie doesn’t even move from her place, but I feel her laughing against me. “Your friend is kind of creepy, Dante,” she manages.

“Max, what the hell are you doing in here?” I ask, pulling the covers farther up even though I’m (regretfully) fully-clothed.

“Real question is, why did I wait so long to join you guys?” Max stands from his chair and cocks his head. A mischievous smile crawls across his face.

“No,” I say, trying to appear serious. “Don’t even think about it, dude.”

Max starts running in place, his smile widening farther until he looks deranged. “Ready or not!”

Before I can stop him, Max races toward the bed and dives on top of us. “Oh! Oh it feels even better than I imagined.” He rolls back and forth across our bodies as Charlie laughs and I wonder why I’m friends with such a raging idiot.

With all my strength, I grab Max’s shirt and rotate him toward the edge. He falls off the side, his arms pin-wheeling. There’s a loud thud, and then nothing.

I wait for several seconds before leaning over to search for him. Max is lying face down on the floor, his arms and legs curled like a dead spider. “You’re not really hurt,” I say.

“I think you gave me spinal bifida. You need to call someone.”

“That’s a genetic disorder,” I respond with a sigh, collapsing back onto my pillow. A second later, he raises his head very, very slowly up from the side of the bed. It’s one of the more unsettling things he’s ever done. “Max, is there a purpose to this visit?” I ask. I want so badly to act like he’s annoying me. But he knows, and I know, that we both love this game: the one where I pretend he’s a pain in my ass, and he acts like a damn circus clown.

He stands up, crosses the room, and plops back down in the chair. “Valery sent me.”

I throw an arm across my eyes. “Of course she did.” Beside me, Charlie moves to get up and I immediately reach for her. She squeals and wiggles out of my grasp.

I watch as she walks around the bed and ruffles Max’s hair. The twenty-eight year old pants like a dog. It’s a bit disturbing considering Charlie’s seventeen. She eyes me with a grin. “I’ll make waffles.”

My face lights up.

“Yes,” she continues. “And bacon.”

I glance at Max and nod toward Charlie. “That’s my girl.”

“Damn straight,” he says.

“I’m still making breakfast for your birthday,” I call after Charlie. Then, looking at Max, I add, “My girl’s going to be legal soon.”

Max says, “Boom.”

The Liberator (Dante Walker #2) by Victoria Scott

Expected Publication: September 3, 2013 BY ENTANGLED TEEN

Bad boy, meet bad girl.

Dante has a shiny new cuff wrapped around his ankle, and he doesn’t like that mess one bit. His new accessory comes straight from Big Guy himself and marks the former demon as a liberator. Despite his gritty past and bad boy ways, Dante Walker has been granted a second chance.

When Dante is given his first mission as a liberator to save the soul of seventeen-year-old Aspen, he knows he’s got this. But Aspen reminds him of the rebellious life he used to live and is making it difficult to resist sinful temptations. Though Dante is committed to living clean for his girlfriend Charlie, this dude’s been a playboy for far too long…and old demons die hard.

With Charlie becoming the girl she was never able to be pre-makeover and Aspen showing him how delicious it feels to embrace his inner beast, Dante will have to go somewhere he never thought he’d return to in order to accomplish the impossible: save the girl he’s been assigned to, and keep the girl he loves.

Have more questions about the romance in THE LIBERATOR? Read a note from the author about Aspen’s involvement in the story: http://tinyurl.com/asl8qyy (less)

Dante Walker… Um YES please!!! See I’ll even ask nicely?? And MAX and Valery!!!!! I. Am. DYING. I hope we get more to their story in The Liberator!

The Collector: A Dante Walker novel
by Victoria Scott
Expected Pub: April 2013 by Entangled Teen

He makes good girls…bad.

Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence has made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple, weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.

Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal opportunity collector and doesn’t want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:

Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within 10 days.

Dante doesn’t know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky, Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect—he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector, and uncover emotions deeply buried.

→ Check out my review of The Collector: A Dante Walker novel by Victoria Scott

Victoria Scott is a YA writer with a die-hard affection for dark and humorous books. Her work is represented by the fabulous Laurie McLean of Larsen-Pomada literary agency. She has a master’s degree in marketing, and is a member of the Writers’ League of Texas and Teen Shiver.

Her first YA book, THE COLLECTOR, will be published by Entangled Teen in 2013. And her short story, FOUR HOUSES, is available now through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Website | Twitter |Facebook |Goodreads

Book Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Bookish Brunette — Wed, 22 May 2013 05:50:03 +0000

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2)
by Katie McGarry

Expected Pub: 5/28/2013 by Harlequin Teen

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. “Dance with me, Beth.”

“No.” I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again….

“I dare you…”

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk’s home life, they’d send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom’s freedom and her own happiness. That’s how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn’t want her and going to a school that doesn’t understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn’t get her, but does….

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can’t tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn’t be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won’t let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all…

The Bookish Brunette thought:

Our beloved Beth from Pushing the Limits is back in her own story, Dare You To. She first encounters Ryan while on a midnight run to Taco Bell, little does she know that the pretty boy jock that asks for her number, would soon become apart of her everyday life.

Ryan doesn’t lose. Ever. So when his best friend dares him to get the skater chick’s number at Taco Bell, he gives it all he has. Even after he realizes that she’s clearly not interested.

One count of Destruction of Property later, Beth is on a one way train to Juvie when her estranged uncle shows up and whisks her away to Groveton. She’s less than pleased to be uprooted from everything and everyone she knows.

“I take comfort in the stone inside of me. If I don’t feel, I don’t hurt.”

New house, new school and new clothes does not equal a new Beth, and she fights hard against the life that her uncle is providing. And she fights even harder against the feelings that she’s starting to have for Ryan.

Strong willed, hard headed and completely insecure – Beth is a heartbreaking character… Just like in Pushing the Limits, you just want to hug her!

Ryan is the town’s favorite golden boy, but he’s got layers that very few people know about. I liked Ryan a lot, he’s very sweet and super thoughtful…

“I won’t let you go. You’re mine and I don’t lose.” Awwww….

I didn’t love Dare You To as much as I did Pushing the Limits. Even though I knew Beth wouldn’t end up with Isaiah from the synopsis… I guess I was still sort of holding out for it to happen.

I never really felt INVESTED in Beth and Ryan’s relationship… Sure there were points where I laughed and cried, but I felt connected to both characters individually – not together as a couple.

The first two chapters of Isaiah’s story, Crash Into You, were included in the back of the ARC… and OMG!!! I can’t WAIT for his happy ending! He totally deserves it!!!!

→ Check out my review of Pushing the Limits

Don’t miss Crossing the Line, a Pushing the Limits novella for only $1.63!

YA CRUSH TOURNAMENT NOMINATIONS!

Bookish Brunette — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:58:54 +0000

With multiple categories, including: INDIE, DEBUT, REALISTIC FICTION, and SPECULATIVE FICTION and then a March Madness style voting the crushes will face off one by one!

Definitions and rules can be found in detail at YA CRUSH TOURNAMENT NOMINATIONS! – and nominations are at separate blogs!!!

Debut: Pageturners Blog
Realistic Fiction: Fictitious Delicious
Speculative Fiction: Fantasy Book Addict
Indie: Stuck In Books

Nominations open from May 20 until May 25th!!!

Tweet hashtag #YACrushTourney to support your fav YA authors!!

5/22 – UPDATE

The boys of Jenn Cooksey’s EPIC Grab Your Pole series have been nominated and are CURRENTLY sitting in the TOP TEN in each of the Debut, Realistic Fiction, AND Indie categories!!!

Dont forget to VOTE VOTE VOTE the GYP BOYS for DEBUT INDIE AND REALISTIC FICTION!

Support her super yummy boy toy Tristan in Shark Bait and grab a TEAM TRISTAN badge!!!!

Book Babble: Reading Fraud

Bookish Brunette — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:15:00 +0000

Babble…

You ever feel like a complete and total READING FRAUD to non-readers???? I know, I know… Let me explain!

My hubby (Mr. Chatty Cathy on the block) is standing over by the fence CHATTING (per usual) with our neighbor. While I’m sitting about 30ft away hoping he doesn’t wave me over to be social, because I’m trying to READ.

Hubs eventually walks over *BB thinks conspiring thoughts while avoiding hubby’s eyes, hoping he won’t stop to chat with ME… his READING wife… * ehhh… What what I saying? Oh yes! A fraud…

Not so lucky. Hubs proceeds to tell me about the conversation he and our neighbor had… YES. He does. Clearly my staring at my kindle wasn’t a good enough indicator to my dear husband to leave me alone. *sigh*

Hubs: You know what the neighbor said?

BB: If I said that I suddenly developed psychic skills and TOTALLY already know what he said, would you believe me?

*hubs gives me the “quit be a shit” look*

BB: FINE! I’m sure it was a riveting conversation.. I simply MUST hear it!

Hubs: *rolling his eyes* He said that I must be super proud of you and you must be really smart because every time he sees you, you’re reading.

BB: Oh. Well… He’s terribly observant and obviously correct. *turns Kindle back on*

Seriously though… Yes, I’m a damn GENIUS. A freaking EXPERT in zombie fiction and smutty romance don’t you know!

Non-readers automatically assume that because we have a book in our hands, we’re “smart”. This is something I’ve dealt with my whole life… Then the projected image of intelligence is totally blown to shit as soon as I open my mouth and the trailer park/surfer chick comes out!

Favs book quotes of the week…

“There’s a monster inside of me, eating little bits of me everyday and I can’t seem to stop it.”
Tasting Never (Never say Never) by C.M. Stunich

He’s as wounded as I am, and we’re both bleeding all over one another. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Tasting Never (Never say Never) by C.M. Stunich

“You find out who your real friends are when you call and tell ‘em you just accidentally killed a hooker and they show up with a shovel and a full tank of gas.”
The Other Fish in the Sea (Grab Your Pole, #2) by Jenn Cooksey

“Can you handle me? I have high expectations, you know. All us romance readers do. We’re spoiled by words.”
Losing Me, Finding You (A New Adult Biker Erotic Romance) by C.M. Stunich

Song of the week…

I’m Not Alright by Shinedown

“I like crossing the line
And slowly losing my mind
Are you ok
‘Cuz I feel fine
Maybe it’s me
I’m just crazy
Maybe I like that I’m not alright.”

Books of the week…

Random Book News…

Did you guys hear about the teacher who bought Fifty Shades of Gray for his 9th grade English student? O_o

Cover Reveal: Darkness Taunts by Susan Illene

Bookish Brunette — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:07:23 +0000

(Cover By PhatPuppy Art)

Darkness Taunts by Susan Illene (Book two of The Sensor Series)

Expected Release Date: June 30th, 2013

Melena Sanders has managed to avoid all things inhuman for most of her life, but after coming to Fairbanks, Alaska to rescue her best friend from supernaturals she hasn’t been allowed to leave. That is, until her long-time nemesis comes to collect a favor she owes him. Lucas might be half angel, but he’s all bad as far as she’s concerned.

Paying him back might get her out of town for a while, but her new destination will be anything but enjoyable. Mel’s got to help the nephilim take care of a demon possession outbreak in Juneau. Although something like this hasn’t happened for thousands of years, Lucas is certain Melena’s rare abilities are the key to solving the problem.

With violence in the capital city growing, she’s going to have to figure out how to stop it fast before the trouble spreads to other places. Not only that, but working closely with Lucas is changing the dynamics of their hate-hate relationship—worrying her even more than the demons. Getting back to her captivity in Fairbanks never looked so good.

EXCERPT for Darkness Taunts:

A vampire guard stood at his nighttime station inside. He would’ve seen me through a side window next to the door, and heard me coming before that, but it wasn’t until I entered the house that he grabbed me. I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with his crap. We’d had problems with each other ever since he’d taken the position a few months ago.

I glared at him. “Let me pass, Hagan. I have to talk to Nik.”

He tightened his fingers on my arm. “The master’s busy.”

“I’m sure he is,” I said through gritted teeth. “But this can’t wait.”

“Yes, it can.” He shoved me. I had to take a step back to keep from falling. “He shouldn’t tolerate you or any of your kind…sensor.”

Another shove and I went flying across the foyer. My head slammed into a set of medieval armor hanging on the wall. Pain exploded through my left cheek where it collided with the metal shoulder joints. It cut into my skin, not deep, but a trickle of blood came away when I pressed my hand to it. The vamp would pay for that. He’d been undead for over fifty years—too strong for me to fight hand to hand, but there were other ways.

He clucked his tongue. “Oh, did the little sensor get hurt?”

“Fuck you,” I said, stepping away from the fallen armor.

A couple of young werewolves came into the foyer to watch the show. Very few of the sups around here liked me. They knew exactly what I was, though they were compelled to keep it to themselves. Nik had imposed a policy forcing them to tolerate me, but they made their feelings known every time he wasn’t around.

I could sense the master vampire in his bedroom across the house. He’d had it soundproofed. Even with his enhanced hearing, he wouldn’t know what was going on. I’d have to resolve this problem without his help. It was about time these guys learned a lesson anyway.

I grabbed an expensive vase Nik had bought on a recent trip overseas and threw it far right of Hagan’s head. He dove to grab it. Yeah, he’d be in big trouble if the thing broke. I whipped my gun out at the same time. A vamp will never stand still for you to shoot them, but provide a little distraction—Hagan caught the vase a full foot before it would have crashed onto the shiny wood floor.

He turned over to find my .45 Sig pointed at him. I pulled the trigger. The hollow-point bullet went straight through his left eye and exploded, leaving bits and pieces of him all over the floor and walls. I tilted my head. Vamp brains looked basically the same as a human’s. Who’d have guessed? The vase fell from his limp hands, but it was sturdy enough not to break as it rolled away. At least I wouldn’t have to explain that later.

The werewolves across the foyer stood gaping at me. This was the first time I’d pulled a gun inside the house. I’d had more than enough of being bullied by these fools because of their stupid prejudices against my kind. They needed to learn there were consequences. I aimed the weapon at them next. They lifted their hands up and backed away a couple of steps.

“We don’t want trouble,” one of them said. The other guy nodded.

I glanced at the vamp on the floor. He was starting to heal, but he’d be out for at least an hour. If I shot the weres in the head they’d probably die and they knew it. Their healing abilities weren’t as good as a vamp’s while in human form.

“Then get out of my way.”

They took off without another word.

OMG I knoooow right?!?! Does Darkness Taunts sound AWESOME or what?!?! I always love a badass chick! So far I’m counting: Vamps, werewolves and demons?! Did I miss anything???

DARKNESS HAUNTS by Susan Illene (Book One of The Sensor Series)

Melena Sanders faced her fair share of danger with insurgents and terrorists when she served in the U.S. Army, but now she is about to go up against a new threat. Her best friend, Aniya, has disappeared while on a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska—a supernatural haven. Most humans have no idea darker races lurk amongst them. Mel knows better. If she wants to get her friend back, she’s going to have to go in alone—but not unarmed.

Melena has a few special skills the Army didn’t provide, but the odds are still against her. She’s got to come up with a plan fast that doesn’t involve her, or her friend, dying. But danger likes to play it rough. A war for power is about to rise in Fairbanks and if she wants to get Aniya back, she’s going to have to step right into the middle of it.

Goodreads Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Susan Illene : Instead of making the traditional post high school move and attending college, Susan joined the U.S. Army. She spent her eighteenth birthday in the gas chamber…an experience she is sure is best left for criminals. For eleven years she served first as a human resources specialist and later as an Arabic linguist (mostly in Airborne units). Though all her duty assignments were stateside, she did make two deployments to Iraq where her language skills were put to regular use.
After leaving the service in 2009, Susan returned to school to study history with a focus on the Middle East. She no longer finds many opportunities to test her fighting abilities in real life, unless her husband is demanding she cook him a real meal, but she’s found a new outlet in writing urban fantasy heroines who can.

TWITTER | WEBSITE | Facebook | Goodreads

Book Review: Until I Break by M Leighton

Bookish Brunette — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:02:15 +0000

Until I Break by M. Leighton

Published: 5/12/2013 by M. Leighton Books

“I’m intrigued. Tempted beyond what I’ve ever been before. To know her, to open her up. To break her.”

In love, sometimes what you fear most is exactly what you need.

Laura Drake is an author. She writes bestselling paranormal romances that continue to top the charts. She is sharp. She is confident. She is in control.

And she doesn’t exist.

Samantha Jansen is the woman behind the wig, the woman most of the world doesn’t know exists. She is shy. She is insecure. She is nothing like her main character or her alter ego. She is scarred—deeply scarred—by a past she can’t let go of and a present she can’t make peace with.

Samantha’s dreams are consumed by one man, the broken hero from her books. Mason Strait is both her wildest fantasy and her most terrifying nightmare.

When Samantha meets Alec Brand, a corporate consultant, it is as though Mason has come to life. Alec is handsome to a fault, as elegant as he is arrogant, and more intense than any man has a right to be.

Samantha is soon sucked into a world that mirrors the fiction she writes. Just like her main character, Daire Kirby, Samantha finds herself unable to resist the forbidden lure of Alec. And just like Daire, she also finds that she is faced with taking a chance on a man who could either set her free or destroy her.

The scale tilts toward destruction when Samantha finds out that Alec is as much a work of fiction as Mason. And he has scars of his own, scars that could ruin them both.

**This book may be read as a stand-alone, as the story of Alec and Samantha comes to a conclusion in this book**

The Bookish Brunette thought:

Samantha Jansen is timid, closed off and hides from the world. UNTIL she dons her alter ego of author of vampy awesome, Laura Drake complete with wig and the whole disguise.

“Without her facade, I’m a wallflower with scars that only I can see.”

She’s rocked to her very core, while at a book signing and in walks the man of her dreams… And nightmares. A visual double of Mason, the leading man in her books. But he is not Mason, he is Alec Brand.

“He draws my eye, my thoughts, ad some deep tragic part of my soul toward him.”

The next day while having coffee with her sister, *gasp* ALEC walks in… and says something to the effect of:

“I know you.” and Samantha just ABOUT DIES – because NO ONE (except her sister) knows about her double life… She’s like… “No you don’t.” and ALEC says…

“I want to.”

Um… Dear Alec, TAKE. Me. Now. Love, BB

Samantha is a SUPER complex chick… the kind I love to emerge myself into!

Honestly. I never thought I’d say this. Christian Gray – you have been REPLACED as the emotionally scarred, deeply broken, so exceptionally sensual, yet frightening at the same time fictional man of my heart – Alec Brand has taken up residence and made himself at home there. No hard feelings darling.

I love books told from dual and multiple point of views! So when I flipped to Chapter 2 of Until I Break and realized we’d get Alec’s POV, as well as Samantha’s, I did the “bookish jig”! Which if you’re not familiar with this, it’s a cross between Gangnam Style and the Macarena. Dude. True story!

Dear lord, seriously… I was CONVINCED – CONVINCED!!!! I tell you that Alec was going to chop Sam up into teensy little pieces and feed her body to sea turtles.

There are so many twists and turns in Until I Break, and I never saw any of them coming! I kept turning over Alec’s secrets in my head, trying to figure out WHAT he was HIDING – and I never came close.

I’m almost certain that I say this with EVERY new book I read by M. Leighton, and what can I say? She is just one of those authors… But Until I Break is M. Leighton’s best novel yet!!!

Dangerous, passionate and addictive - Until I Break is one that I’ll think of long after I finished… the characters got under your skin and all I could think is, “MORE!!!!!”

And OMG… so is ONLINE THERAPY a real thing??? Because I think I could SO benefit from some of THAT!!!

→ Check out my reviews of M. Leighton’s previous books

Cover Reveal: More by Clare James

Bookish Brunette — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:00:38 +0000

cover by PhatPuppy Art

More by Clare James

Expected publication: June 20th 2013

One summer.
One chance to forget the past.
One opportunity to make things right.

There’s no denying the heat between Jules Taylor and Foster Sutton. They are two wild souls with a fire burning inside. Together, they create a hot and dangerous mix of emotion and lust.

But after a terrible accident leaves one friend dead, Foster is bound by a secret that keeps him from getting closer to Jules. And he’s left with only one thing to offer her – friendship.

For Jules, her relationship with Foster is getting old. He falls down and she picks him up, but they never move forward. Their occasional hook-ups are no longer enough, and Jules vows that this is her summer to forget Foster and find love. If it were only that easy.

It seems fate is pushing Jules and Foster together at every turn. And it’s only a matter of time before they give up and give in.

MORE is the highly anticipated companion story to BEFORE YOU GO. It can also be read as a stand-alone book.

Before You Go by Clare James
Published: April 1, 2013

Paralyzed by the past and terrified of the future, Tabitha Kelly is broken.

After a public sex scandal at her college, Tabby moves to a new city with a new school, convinced she can start over. But she soon realizes the changes are not enough. Tabby must take action to help her heal and move on from the past.

And though it sounds crazy, she believes a one-night stand is the best way to take back what’s hers. If she can choose where, when, and most importantly, who … maybe she can regain control.
First, she needs a willing participant.

She finds more than that when she meets Noah Adler.

Unfortunately, she can’t go through with it. And when she tries to forget about the plan—and the guy—it becomes impossible.

Noah quickly weaves his way into her new life and her heart. But as he comes dangerously close to discovering her secret, Tabby’s at risk of losing it all.

Clare James spent her childhood, writing, reading, and dancing. Not much has changed since then, except she can no longer get up on toe shoes like she once could. And don’t even ask her to go into the splits because she may never get back up.

A new adult and contemporary romance writer, Clare loves a happy ending. She lives in Minneapolis with her two leading men—her husband and young son. BEFORE YOU GO is her debut new adult novel.

Twitter | Website

The Bookish Brunette

Book Babble: I Rarely Read the Back of Books

Babble…

Favs book quotes of the week…

Song of the week…

Books of the week…

Random Book News ( & stuff)…

It’s my LuLu’s 6th birthday today!!!

Zombie Craze 2013 starts in like a WEEK!!! I am SOOOO ill prepared for the awesomeness that I PLANNED!!!

#YACrushTourney #TeamGYP Updates

Nominations open from May 20 until May 25th!!!

My fav GYP boys are still tearing up the YA Crush Tournament TOP TEN in: Debut, Realistic Fiction, AND Indie categories!!!

Book Review: A Different Blue by Amy Harmon

A Different Blue by Amy Harmon

Excerpt from THE LIBERTOR by Victoria Scott

Excerpt from THE LIBERTOR By Victoria Scott

The Liberator (Dante Walker #2) by Victoria Scott

The Collector: A Dante Walker novel by Victoria Scott Expected Pub: April 2013 by Entangled Teen

→ Check out my review of The Collector: A Dante Walker novel by Victoria Scott

Website | Twitter |Facebook |Goodreads

Book Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

→ Check out my review of Pushing the Limits

YA CRUSH TOURNAMENT NOMINATIONS!

Nominations open from May 20 until May 25th!!!

*5/22 – UPDATE*

Book Babble: Reading Fraud

Babble…

Favs book quotes of the week…

Song of the week…

Books of the week…

Random Book News…

Cover Reveal: Darkness Taunts by Susan Illene

Darkness Taunts by Susan Illene (Book two of The Sensor Series)

EXCERPT for Darkness Taunts:

Book Review: Until I Break by M Leighton

Until I Break by M. Leighton

→ Check out my reviews of M. Leighton’s previous books

Cover Reveal: More by Clare James

More by Clare James

Excerpt from THE LIBERTOR
By Victoria Scott

The Collector: A Dante Walker novel
by Victoria Scott
Expected Pub: April 2013 by Entangled Teen

5/22 – UPDATE