Ripped

By Katy Evans

Release Date: December 9, 2014

Buy: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / ITunes

Synopsis

The fifth book in the New York Times new adult series that began with Real.

A ripped rock star with attitude.
An ex-girlfriend with a reckless plan.

Pandora assumed getting her heart broken by her bad boy ex could only happen once–until Mackenna Jones comes back to town for the biggest concert of his career. They say girls are getting pregnant just thinking about the Crack Bikini tour and it’s destined to be a huge hit.

Oh, it’ll be a hit alright–when Pandora comes out swinging. She and her friend Melanie are determined to humiliate him onstage. But when they’re caught by security and her ex is
summoned, Mackenna decides not to press charges if she’ll join him on tour and follow certain conditions–rules designed to give him the upper hand and keep her in close contact with him once again. Soon, the passion they once shared is reignited, and no matter how much Pandora wants to hate him, her hard exterior starts to crack.

And worse: Mackenna knows it, too. But he hasn’t uncovered all her secrets…

Lis’ Review

“How can your first and only love sweep through you like a tornado and not leave his mark?”

We met Pandora in Katy Evans book Real. She’s Brooke and Melanie’s goth friend, the one whose personality is as dark as her black hair, lips and fingernails. She’s mad at the world, she’s the eternal pessimist, she doesn’t believe in love and she tells both her friends how sorry they will be they hooked up with someone permanently. But deep down, Pandora longs for what Brooke and Melanie have found, but she can never let herself love because of that first and only love that betrayed her.

Mackenna Jones is the lead singer for Crack Bikini, the most popular rock band out there. He’s got it all..fame, fortune and all the women he wants. Except he doesn’t have the woman he loves. It’s been six years since he’s seen her, and he doesn’t know if he’ll ever see her again, until she shows up at one of his concerts and throws tomatoes at him when he sings the song he wrote about her: Pandora’s Song.

It’s hard to like Pandora because she’s so miserable. She’s so negative. She keeps that cloak of hate and distrust around her so tight it’s hard for us as readers to relate. But it’s easy to like Mackenna. He’s cool, he’s open, and despite the fact that he’s been humiliated by his long lost love, he still defends her and we know immediately that he still loves her. As readers we want that HEA, but from Pandora’s point of view, it’s not going to happen. Katy Evans gives us her signature intense, very descriptive feelings of both characters, but because we feel them so deeply, we become almost as negative and miserable as Pandora. Thank goodness there’s light after the darkness, spring after the long hard winter.

The story of Pandora and Mackenna is more than just seeing an old love and figuring out how to rekindle the spark. There’s layers and layers of emotion to both characters, and as the story unfolds and we find out their deepest, darkest secrets, we begin to understand why this is such a struggle. This book is dark and brooding but when Pandora finally starts to let her guard down and accept what could be with Mackenna, it’s like watching a flower slowly bloom in the first light of a spring day. Each petal reveals the love that they share, but just as we begin to smile something is revealed that makes us doubt, makes us wonder if it’s all a sham. Will this really be an HEA? Open Pandora’s box and discover all the secrets that make Ripped another Katy Evans hit.

Author Bio:

Katy Evans grew up with books and book-boyfriends until she found a real sexy boyfriend to love. They married and are now hard at work on their own happily ever after. Katy loves her family and friends, and she also loves reading, walking, baking, and being consumed by her characters until she reaches “The End.” Which is, hopefully, only the beginning…

Katy Evans is the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of the Real series.

To find more about her, look her up on her website, Twitter, or Facebook, she’d also love to hear from you!

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Makin Miracles

Smoky Mountain Series – Book 7

By Lin Stepp

Synopsis

A charming portrait of the Smokies, their people, and a wonderful way of life.” –Deborah Smith, New York Times bestselling author
Set in Tennessee’s postcard-perfect Smoky Mountains, Lin Stepp’s Makin’ Miracles is an inspiring tale that reveals why love and forgiveness are most important just when they seem most impossible. . .

Zola Devon has always been a little different. Half Tahitian, with long black hair and dark eyes, she’s especially distinctive in the mountain town of Gatlinburg. She even stocks her gift shop, Nature’s Corner, with items that reflect her island heritage and tantalize tourists. But it’s her spot-on intuition that truly sets Zola apart. When she gets a hunch about a person, she’s almost always right. And when the surly photographer who owns the gallery next door starts meddling in her business, she can only hope that, for once, her instincts are wrong.

The one thing Spencer Jackson loves more than his camera is the majestic scenery of the Smoky Mountains. Reeling from his painful past, he’s settled in a cabin in the woods to train his lens on the breathtaking landscape. A woman as uniquely beguiling as Zola could only throw his simple, uncomplicated days into chaos–and force him to lay bare his darkest secrets. But as their lives become unavoidably intertwined, they both may discover the beauty of the truth, and the joy of the unexpected.

Buy: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / ITunes

Tina’s Review

** Provided by Netgalley in Exchange for an Honest Review. **

— From the Cover —
“A charming portrait of the Smokies, their people, and a wonderful way of life.” –Deborah Smith, New York Times bestselling author
Set in Tennessee’s postcard-perfect Smoky Mountains, Lin Stepp’s Makin’ Miracles is an inspiring tale that reveals why love and forgiveness are most important just when they seem most impossible. . .
Zola Devon has always been a little different. Half Tahitian, with long black hair and dark eyes, she’s especially distinctive in the mountain town of Gatlinburg. She even stocks her gift shop, Nature’s Corner, with items that reflect her island heritage and tantalize tourists. But it’s her spot-on intuition that truly sets Zola apart. When she gets a hunch about a person, she’s almost always right. And when the surly photographer who owns the gallery next door starts meddling in her business, she can only hope that, for once, her instincts are wrong.
The one thing Spencer Jackson loves more than his camera is the majestic scenery of the Smoky Mountains. Reeling from his painful past, he’s settled in a cabin in the woods to train his lens on the breathtaking landscape. A woman as uniquely beguiling as Zola could only throw his simple, uncomplicated days into chaos–and force him to lay bare his darkest secrets. But as their lives become unavoidably intertwined, they both may discover the beauty of the truth, and the joy of the unexpected.
——————
Faith-based sweet, gentle romance about taking a chance and learning acceptance. It has a slow and lazing pace to it, but flows smoothly. The characters are unique to what I’d normally read. He’s a nature photographer with a grudge against his past and family. He’s fairly closed off to people other than his two business partners. She’s a vivacious gal, but seems rather naive, even though she’s seen first-hand the cruelty, prejudice, superstition and fear from people who learn of her being what she calls a Christian seer. Neither are very strong characters. Dialogue is a little foreign to me, they tend to call each other by their full names often. Secondary characters are all unique and mostly enjoyable. The depictive nature of the author’s writing is very soothing and allows the story to flourish. However, I often found it difficult to maintain my focus due to the sedate pace of the book. There was enough conflict throughout the book from many directions to keep you guessing and wondering about the outcomes, where some resolved more slowly than others. Predictability was not an issue whatsoever. The conclusion is drawn fairly tight and solid.

Author Bio:

Dr. Lin Stepp is a native Tennessean, a businesswoman, and an educator. She is an adjunct faculty at Tusculum College where she teaches research and at King University where she teaches a variety of psychology and counseling courses. Her business background includes over 25 years in marketing, sales, production art, and regional publishing. She has editorial and writing experience in regional magazines and in the academic field. Down by the River is the sixth novel by Stepp set in the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee. Stepp has five published works, each set in different locations around the Smoky Mountains. Her next Smokies novels, including Down by the River, Makin’ Miracles, and Saving Laurel Springs will be released by Kensington Publishing in 2014 and 2015 – as well as a short novella A Smoky Mountain Gift to be included in a 2014 Christmas anthology, featuring Fern Michaels and titled When the Snow Falls. Previous titles include: Second Hand Rose, Delia’s Place, For Six Good Reasons, Tell Me About Orchard Hollow, and The Foster Girls. Stepp and her husband have published a Smokies hiking guide titled The Afternoon Hiker (2014).

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One To Leave

One To Hold Series- Book 5

By Tia Louise

Release Date: December 29, 2014

Synopsis

Some demons can’t be shaken off.

Some wounds won’t heal.

Until a pair of hazel eyes knocks you on your ass, and you realize it’s time to stop running.

BUY: AMAZON / BARNES AND NOBLE / ITUNES

Excerpt

Mariska

If you asked where this sudden surge of bravery came from, I’d have to be honest. I had no fucking idea. Stuart rode into the barn looking like sex on two legs… very tired sex on two legs, but sex on two legs all the same, and I made up my mind. After the way he kissed me yesterday, I didn’t care what type of bullshit line he tried to spin, Stuart Knight was in the same space as me. He was fighting hard, but he wanted this.

Now I was in his bedroom ordering him around, and he was actually allowing it. Humoring me, more like it. Not for one minute was I suffering from the delusion that this man took orders from anyone. Still, for whatever reason, exhaustion or simple curiosity, he let me take the lead.

Once his shirt was off, I couldn’t hide the hitch in my breath at the site of his lined torso. Ridges crossed his abdomen, lines stretched across his broad shoulders and down his arms. He lay on his stomach across the mattress, and it was all I could do not to run my tongue over every inch of his beautiful body. Instead, I quickly took off my boots, and for increased mobility (yes, that was my excuse), I removed my denim shorts.

Lightly I smoothed my palm across his lower back, trying to remember the touches I’d learned in the few massage therapy classes I’d taken. Why hadn’t I taken more? Kneading a little harder, I knew I had to get lower, down into the pelvic area to give him relief.

“Do you mind if I remove your boxers?” My voice was breathless and trembling. Those snug, dark briefs didn’t hide much, but I knew once I saw that ass, I’d be a goner.

“No.”

One word. He’d sounded almost as cautious as me when he said it. Closing my eyes, I shook myself. Now was the time. This was my man. If I was going to make it happen, if I was going to make any of this make sense, from the day I left Bayville to this moment, I had to go for it. Fate had dropped this opportunity straight in my lap.

Inhaling a quiet breath, I gently pulled the waistband out and lowered it down his legs. I knew what was on the other side, pressed between his pelvis and the mattress, and I didn’t want to hurt him. Miraculously, I got his underwear off, and

Oh.

My.

God.

Square and tight, with palm-sized indentations on each side… For a moment, I could only stare at his backside. Perfect and golden as the rest of him.

Climbing back onto my knees, I took the quietest deep breath in the history of recorded time. It trembled going in, and my hand trembled reaching out. I touched him. He seemed to breathe at that exact moment as well—almost as if he’d been holding his breath, too.

* * *

Readers are saying…

“FIVE STARS: I swear Tia’s writing gets hotter and hotter, and some of the scenes (*phew*) were extremely spicy.” –Jezabell Girl Reviews

“If you’re looking for a super sexy cowboy-with-a-past to fall in love with One to Leave is definitely the book to pick up!” –Reading Past My Bedtime Reviews

“The story develops with a high level of anticipation and constant anger simmering just under the surface. And the craving…” –Anna K, Goodreads

One To Hold Series

One To Hold- Amazon / Barnes and Noble / ITunes

One To Keep- Amazon / Barnes and Noble / ITunes

One To Protect- Amazon / Barnes and Noble / ITunes

One To Love- Amazon / Barnes and Noble / ITunes

 Author Bio:

Tia Louise is a former journalist, world-traveler, and collector of beautiful men (who inspire ALL of her stories… *wink*)—turned wife, mommy, and novelist.

It’s possible she has a slight truffle addiction. And she will never look at a family restroom the same way again.

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