Even before the second semester of his sophomore year at Columbia began, Trey Holland knew his life would be completely different by the end of it. He had yet to meet the pretty–yet flustered–freshman who he’d be mentoring on the school paper. He had yet to discover the despicable secrets his new best friend was hiding.
All Trey knew at the time was that the relationship with his high school sweetheart was nearing its end.
In those days before the spring semester began, life for Trey was simple. School was a place to learn. His fraternity was a community of like-minded brothers. Life was full of well-intentioned people. Complications were tiny bumps in the road, easily smoothed over, leaving no trace behind.
In a matter of weeks, Trey is thrust into a jaded reality brought on by choices he makes and by the vile actions of those around him. It won’t take long for him to look back and see the wreckage left in the wake of wanting.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Portions of this book deal with the sensitive subject of rape and sexual abuse. While the incidents are not ‘experienced’ first hand, they are retold in hindsight by characters. The descriptions of the events are brief, and while they are not graphic, they may be considered disturbing to some.
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Robin’s Review
For years now, I’ve been reading fiction from a variety of genres, and Lori Otto has become one of my very favorite authors. She writes about family and friendship. Loyalty and love. Sometimes she writes about topics which are relevant to current events. Her newest novel, In the Wake of Wanting, embodies all of these characteristics and so much more.
Before I begin my review In the Wake of Wanting, it would be remiss of me to not share Otto’s author note:
“Portions of this book deal with the sensitive subject of rape and sexual abuse. While the incidents are not ‘experienced’ first hand, they are retold in hindsight by characters. The descriptions of the events are brief, and while they are not graphic, they may be considered disturbing to some.”
If you are sensitive to these subjects, please take Otto’s author note into consideration before you decide to read In the Wake of Wanting. Now onto the good stuff!
Raised as the son of New York City royalty, Trey Holland is a product of his upbringing. He’s polite. Giving. Kind. Loyal. Someone who puts others before him. Now a sophomore at Columbia University, Trey has recently noticed that his feelings for Zaina Mishra are changing. Trey feels suffocated – feels like his future has already been mapped out. He’s beginning to think his 4-year relationship with his high school sweetheart has run its course.
When Coley Fitzsimmons walks into Trey’s journalism class at Columbia University, he’s filled with awe and wonder. Not only is she beautiful, but Coley has been assigned as Trey’s journalism partner for the school newspaper, and she knows EXACTLY who he is. But Coley also catches the eye of Trey’s best friend, Asher Knoxland, the President of The Columbia Daily Witness. It’s a sticky situation for Trey to be in…..and one that will test his values.
In the Wake of Wanting has everything that I love to see in this genre! Although classified as a new adult novel, In the Wake of Wanting shows elements of romantic suspense. This is such a sweet love story – probably THE best Otto has ever written. Emotions that the characters are feeling just bleed off of the page. Otto gave me bouts of anxiety. I felt anger. Hurt. Fear. Complete shock. I was disturbed at times – so much so that I had a sick feeling. I felt sadness. Joy. And I even had butterflies in my stomach.
Trey and Coley are outstanding characters. Both primary characters are just so easy to love – and I fell in love with them! Their romance? Sweet and sexy. Otto had me from the moment Trey first set his eyes on beautiful Coley. In my opinion, Lori Otto writes best from a male point of view, and In the Wake of Wanting is narrated from Trey’s first-person perspective. Character dialogue is probably the greatest strength of this story because it beautifully conveys the emotions that I spoke of earlier.
Those who follow Lori Otto will already be familiar with Trey’s background, but I feel Otto did a pretty good job of sharing pertinent information about Trey and the Holland family with readers who might be interested in reading this as a standalone novel. To sum things up, In the Wake of Wanting is timely, educational and powerful. It’s a story of survival and fighting back. And it’s one of the sweetest love stories that I’ve read in a long time. You definitely won’t want to miss reading this 5-star novel – In the Wake of Wanting is one my 2016 favorites!
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Author Bio:
After graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1997 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Lori Otto worked in the billboard industry for ten years. Frustrated with trying to communicate entire messages in “seven seconds or less,” she decided to leave outdoor advertising and return to her love of creative writing.
Samuel Clearwater, A.K.A Preppy, likes bowties, pancakes, suspenders, good friends, good times, good drugs, and a good f*ck.
He’s worked his way out from beneath a hellish childhood and is living the life he’s always imagined for himself. When he meets a girl, a junkie on the verge of ending it all, he’s torn between his feelings for her and the crippling fear that she could be the one to end the life he loves.
Andrea ‘Dre’ Capulet is strung out and tired.
Tired of living for her next fix. Tired of doing things that make her stomach turn. Tired of looking in the mirror at the reflection of the person she’s become. Just when she decides to end it all, she meets a man who will change the course of both their lives forever.
And their deaths.
For most people, death is the end of their story.
For Preppy and Dre, death was only the beginning.
This is the fifth book in the King Series and it’s meant to be read after Soulless.
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Excerpt
“No! I hate you,” she spat, as I continued to tug her beside me.
“Good, you can hate me while I fuck you,” I said. “But first things first. My lesson obviously didn’t take in that brain of yours. You want what you want and I can’t stop you,” I said, as we approached the train tracks which were elevated on a mound of gravel several feet off the ground. The warning lights flashed orange, the neon reflective barriers dropped down to cover the service road, while the bells indicating an approaching train clanged away. “And since I can’t stop you, I’m going to help you out. Bullet in the head was so three hours ago. I’ve got something even better in mind now.”
“Wait. What?” she asked, her teeth chattering. “You…you wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t what?” I said, turning around to face her, almost losing my footing when I noticed the trail of dried tears on her cheeks. I looked away for a fraction of a second to regain my composure. “You think I wouldn’t kill someone?” I cocked an eyebrow. “You already know that I’ve been there, done that, bought the motherfucking t-shirt, doll.” Her eyes went wide and she made a move to step back. “Oh no, Doc, I read your letter and I saw what you wanted. And remember, I’m nothing if not accommodating.”
When I pulled her to climb the gravel mound her knees locked up so I bent over and picked her up by the waist, tossing her over my shoulder, carrying her onto the tracks while she beat on my back with her closed fists. When I got to the top I set her down roughly and she fell backwards onto her ass, bracing herself with her hands against the large pieces of gravel under the tracks.
The whistle of the train blew in the distance. It wouldn’t be long now. Dre made a move to stand up, but that wasn’t what I had in mind. I bent down and pushed on her chest, spreading her tiny frame across the tracks. I crawled on top of her, pinning her down with my thighs. I leaned over her, my chest to hers as we both breathed rapidly. She struggled underneath me to get up, pushing at my chest, but I wouldn’t budge. “Why the struggle, Doc? This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
She glanced up at me as the train whistled again. Her gaze flipped to her right, where the single yellow light from the train emerged from around the corner, shining brighter and brighter as it chugged closer and closer. For a moment she stopped struggling, looking back and forth from the train to me.
“So what, you’re gonna die too?” she asked, hoping to appeal to my sense of self preservation.
I shrugged. “I get bored easily, maybe the devil will make me his errand boy or something.”
“Preppy, this isn’t funny. Get up and get off the fucking tracks,” she said, her concern shifting from herself to me.
I shook my head and yawned. She wiggled underneath me, and although there was a train barreling toward us my cock once again stirred to life. Maybe I should just rip down her panties and push inside of her. Train or no train, it would be one fuck of a way to go out.
“You have to choose, Doc,” I said, making my voice as serious as I was capable. “Life?” I asked, screaming over the sound of the train screeching against the track. I pushed my hard cock against her core and she gasped. Her trembling turned into a shiver, her mouth fell open. I glanced to the side at the blinding light of the approaching train as it bathed us both in a tunnel of light. I leaned down, so close that my lips were a whisper above hers, as I shouted, “Life? Or death? What’s it gonna be, Doc?” My hair blew around my face as the light grew brighter and brighter. “Answer the fucking question!” I demanded, my hands squeezing her shoulders, my fingers digging roughly into her skin. “DO YOU WANT TO FUCKING DIE?”
With only seconds left until we became shredded under the train, Dre closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them again they were glistening, fresh tears spilling from the edges.
She started to speak, her lips forming the beginning of the word, but before it could fully leave her lips I stood, pulling her up with me. I lifted Dre into my arms and took a running leap off the tracks, my legs flailing in the air as we fell the seven or so feet. Dre’s decision still on her lips, her scream surrounding the air around us as we crashed down into the field.
“I wanna liiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvveeeeee.”
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Michel’s Review
Love. Never. Dies. Samuel Clearwater, aka Preppy, will live on forever whether it be in memories or in the flesh. He left his MFing mark on the world. He captivated the readers hearts in the King series. His quirky, dynamic personality and high sense of fashion had the readers swooning the moment his character entered the pages in the first book of the King series. He has been a dynamic force throughout the series, alive or dead. He is the heart of the series.
Preppy: The Life & Death of Samuel Clearwater by T. M. Frazier is the first book in Samuel Clearwater’s life story. It takes the reader back to the beginning of the series when King has been arrested and sentenced to prison. While King was serving time, Preppy was holding down the fort, running the Grow Grannies business, and trying to find a way to get custody of King’s daughter. He will do anything for his best friend.
It all begins with a strung out junkie named Andrea “Drea” Capulet. Drea has found herself in hot water with Preppy after trying to rip off one of Grow Grannies. Rather than killing her Preppy decides to put her to use. First he has to clean her up, get her off the heroine, and make sure she is going to do right by her grandmother as well as hold up her end of the bargain. The bargain is much more complicated than either of them anticipated.
Preppy didn’t count on falling for the girl. He also didn’t count on wanting to do the right thing. He never has before. His life has been one been one cluster f*ck after another. Living his life to the fullest and not letting the past drag him down has always been his mantra. Loving with his whole heart is easy. Being worthy of love is harder than dying a million deaths. Death is not the end for Preppy… it’s only the beginning.
T.M. Frazier had me glued to the pages. The in depth story of Preppy was not only fascinating but also very entertaining. Preppy is one of the most complex characters I have read. On one hand he is a ray of sunshine and on the other he is the worst storm a person can encounter. His life story while King was incarcerated was complicated and unexpected. His choices were a complete surprise. His capability of loving is endless. Preppy will not be forgotten, he will live on long after his death.
The ending flashes forward to the present… the cliffhanger from Soulless. This time T.M. Frazier added another twist to the cliffhanger that leaves the reader screaming for more.
I can’t wait for Samuel Clearwater to arise from the grave… Preppy is coming back with a force stronger than the fiercest storm!
Doe has no memories of who she is or where she comes from.
A notorious career criminal just released from prison, King is someone you don’t want to cross unless you’re prepared to pay him back in blood, sweat, sex or a combination of all three.
King’s future hangs in the balance. Doe’s is written in her past. When they come crashing together, they will have to learn that sometimes in order to hold on, you have to first let go.
King is the first book in a two part series. Tyrant is the name of the second book due out August 2015.
When the fog is sucked away from my mind like smoke through a vacuum, the truth that has been beyond my reach for months finally reveals itself.
But the relief I thought I would feel never comes, and I’m more afraid now than I was the morning I woke up handcuffed in King’s bed.
Because with the truth comes dark secrets I was never meant to know.
I will put the lives of those I love most at risk if I let on that my memory has returned, or if I seek help from the heavily tattooed felon who owns me body and soul.
I don’t know if I’m strong enough to resist the magnetic pull toward King that grows stronger every day.
He’s already saved me in more ways than one. Now it’s my turn to do whatever it takes to save him.
My real name is like a shadow, always close behind, but never quite able to catch up.
I fly under the radar because no one ever suspects I’m capable of the kind of brutal violence I commit each and every day.
You see, I’m a girl. I’m nineteen.
And I’m a killer.
This life is all I know. It s all I want to know. It keeps the s**t buried that I need kept buried. It allows me to live without thinking too much.
Without dwelling on the past.
Until him.
It all changes when an ordinary boy becomes my next target.
And my first love.
I have to choose.
The only life I ve ever known has to die, or he does.
Either way, I ll be the one pulling the trigger…
All the Rage is a STANDALONE
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Author Bio:
T.M. (Tracey Marie) Frazier resides in sunny Southwest Florida with her husband and three feisty fur kids.
She attended Florida Gulf Coast University where she specialized in public speaking. After years working in real estate and new home construction, she decided it was finally time to stop pushing her dreams to the back burner and pursue writing seriously.
In the third grade she wrote her very first story about a lost hamster. It earned rave reviews from both her teacher and her parents.
It only took her twenty years to start the next one.
Lara Kessler showed up as if heaven sent her to me, and suddenly my priorities changed. Love is funny like that. One minute you’re living the dream, then BAM! Half my soul shows up backstage wearing a purple shirt and sexy skin-tight jeans, making me realize what I’ve been missing all along. Loving her means exposing a life I’ve tried to bury.
My heart had lost its beat.
Until I saw him.
Kaz Fabian caught my attention the moment I laid eyes on him. Love is funny like that. The famous guitarist was every woman’s fantasy—great face, chiseled jaw, cut biceps. The rock star was pure sex on and off stage, but his charm and charisma won me over. Loving him means burdening him with a life I’ve tried to leave behind.
With her future dim and his past in the spotlight, can they overcome their fate or will they just be another tragic love story?
And you don’t get to choose who you fall in love with.
The minute he opened his sexy mouth, Holliday Hughes should have known Jack Dalton was trouble. His smooth pickup lines, broad shoulders, and ridiculously handsome face charmed her right out of her clothes. She gave into her desires, the instant attraction blinding her to the obvious.
One night. That was all it took for Holliday’s world to be flipped on its axis. Jack Dalton was cocky. Smug. Volatile. Demanding. He ignited something deep inside her like no other, but there was something more to this brooding bad boy. There was a dark side to him she couldn’t help but be drawn to.
Torn between what she knew about him and a mysterious side he tried to hide, could she walk away or was he simply too hard to resist?
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New York Times and USA Bestselling Author, S. L. Scott, was always interested in the arts. She grew up painting, writing poetry and short stories, and willing her days away lost in a good book and the movies.
With a degree in Journalism, she continued her love of the written word by reading American authors like Salinger and Fitzgerald. She was intrigued by their flawed characters living in picture perfect worlds, but could still debate that the world those characters lived in were actually the flawed ones. This dynamic of leaving the reader invested in the words, inspired Scott to start writing with emotion while interjecting an underlying passion into her own stories.
Living in the capital of Texas with her family, Scott loves traveling and avocados, beaches, and cooking with her kids. She’s obsessed with epic romances and loves a good plot twist. She dreams of seeing one of her own books made into a movie one day as well as returning to Europe. Her favorite color is blue, but she likens it more toward the sky than the emotion. Her home is filled with the welcoming symbol of the pineapple and finds surfing a challenge though she likes to think she’s a pro.
“You think you know me. You think you want to know me. But trust me, Miss Lang. Pursuing me will be the worst mistake you ever make. I’m broken beyond repair…
…and I take great pleasure in breaking everyone else around me.”
Ophelia Lang needs money, and she needs it bad. Her parent’s restaurant is going under, and ever since she lost her job teaching third grade elementary, scraping enough cash together to pay the bills has proven almost impossible. Her parents are on the brink of losing their home. The vultures are circling overhead. So when Ophelia is offered an interview for a well-paid private tutoring gig in New York, how can she possibly say no?
Ronan Fletcher is far from the overweight, balding businessman Ophelia expected him to be. He’s young, handsome, and wealthy beyond all reason. He’s also perhaps the coldest, rudest person she’s ever met, and has a mean streak in him a mile and a half wide. A hundred grand is a lot of money, however, and if tolerating his frosty temperament, his erratic mood swings and whatever else he throws at her means she’ll get paid, then that is what Ophelia will do.
Her new boss is keeping secrets, though. Awful, terrible secrets.
The ghosts of Ronan Fletcher’s past are about to turn Ophelia’s future upside down, and she can’t even see it coming.
Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
AFGHANISTAN
2009
“Get back, Fletcher! Get back! The tank’s gonna blow!”
I was running. Behind me, seven miles of desert stretched out toward Kabul city, glowing in places where burned out military trucks were being devoured by fire. Twisted metal rained down from the sky, on fire and sharper than a razor’s edge, impacting in the dirt. Thud. Thud, thud.Thud. Shrapnel whistled through the air, striking the ground a few feet away from me as I weaved my way through the wreckage. Smoke was biting at my lungs, acrid and burning, making it hard to breath.
“Fletcher! What the fuck, man!”
Behind me, Specialist Crowe was losing his mind. Alternating between shouting into his radio and shouting at me, he couldn’t seem to decide which course of action to take. I’d ordered him to follow, but I could understand why he hadn’t. The situation was more than unsafe; charging headlong into the fire and destruction was a suicide mission, and I knew it. I also knew that my men were trapped inside the upturned vehicle still a hundred feet ahead of me, however, and I knew the truck was going to blow any second. They were going to burn to death if I didn’t help them. I wasn’t going to abandon them to that fate.
“Captain! God, man, stop!”
My heart was surging, my veins overflowing with adrenalin. My boots hit the dirt, left, right, left, right, left, right, my fists pumping back and forth as I sprinted toward the truck that was laying on its roof up ahead. Through the fractured windshield, I could see Hellaman and Wicks still strapped into the front seats of the vehicle, upside down and unmoving. They were either unconscious or dead. Hopefully they were just out for the count, but there was a lot of blood splattered on the inside of the glass. A lot of blood.
Black smoke curled upward from the underside of the truck, and I could already hear the hissing sound of fuel burning and sizzling somewhere. Groaning. I could hear groaning, too.
I reached the truck just as something inside the engine caught fire, and Hellaman came to. His eyes were wide with pain and fear as I dropped down onto my belly next to the driver’s side window, which was smashed out, small cubes of safety glass scattered into the dirt.
“Captain? Captain Fletcher. Shit, I can’t breathe. I can’t…breathe.” His face was deathly pale, and his hands shook violently as he tried to claw at the seatbelt that was digging into his chest.
“It’s okay. It’s okay, Private. We’re gonna get you out of there, okay? Just hold on a moment.” My bowie knife was in my hand. I took it and made quick work of slashing through the webbing holding Hellaman in place. There was nothing I could do to cushion his fall. Slamming into the roof of the truck, Hellaman groaned weakly, and then passed out again, either from pain or from the shock, I didn’t know. I stowed my blade and grabbed him by the shoulders, then wrestled him free through the window. His face was cut; his arms were striped with blood and running rivers of crimson out onto the ground. No time to be gentle, though. No time to be safe. I hooked my hands under his arms and I quickly jogged backwards, dragging him away from the wreckage. Twenty feet was enough.
I ran back to the truck. Flames were visibly licking at the underside of the vehicle now, snaking upward toward the night sky. Wick was still out cold. I ran around to the back of the truck and tried to force the loading doors open, but they were jammed closed, bent and warped, refusing to budge.
“Shit.”
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
There was someone alive inside. Running out of time. Almost no time left. I positioned myself by the truck’s rear right window, thanking god the thing was already splintered. The bulletproof windows on military trucks were no joke. You could take a semi automatic to them and it would take longer than I had to smash them. The impact of rolling three times had obviously been enough to compromise the glass, though.
“Shield your faces,” I hollered. “Glass, glass, glass!” Bracing, I spun around and smashed the sole of my boot against the window as hard as I possibly could. The glass groaned, fracturing some more, but it didn’t shatter. I kicked again, and again, and again. Finally, the window exploded in a shower of bright shards, giving in under the force of my boot.
“Captain, there’s fuel in here,” someone inside yelled. “Get back!”
I ducked down and lay flat on my stomach again, crawling in through the now empty window frame. Inside the truck, gasoline hung heavy in the air, burning my nostrils and my eyes. Next to me, Roberts was dead, his head twisted at an odd angle, eyes staring, unseeing into the abyss.
On the other side of the truck Private Coleridge, Sam, a nineteen-year-old kid from Houston, was lying on his back on the roof, holding his rifle in both hands, his body convulsing wildly. His eyes swivelled to look at me, but his head remained locked in position, his teeth grinding together.
“What…what happened, Capt’n?” he asked. “We were drivin’ along, and then…everything was…spinning.”
“IED,” I told him. “Desert’s full of them. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
“I can’t…move. I can’t feel…anything.”
He wasn’t paralyzed. If he were, he wouldn’t be shaking the way he was right now. He was just in shock. A sharp slap to the face would probably go a long way to getting him moving, but there simply wasn’t time for that kind of motivation. Grabbing him by the webbing stitched onto the strap of his pack, which was still on his back, I hauled him to me and then backed out through the window as quickly as I could. The fire was raging now. I dragged Sam back to where I’d left Hellaman and was about to run back to the truck when a loud metallic crack split the air apart, and then a ball of fire rocked the truck, a wall of heat and pressure slamming into my body, sending me reeling back into the dirt.
“Oscar!” Sam yelled. “Oscar’s still alive in there!”
“Fuck.” I was up on my feet and running. The heat was intense—so intense that I had to shield my face as I grew closer to the wreck. The fire had consumed the underside of the truck, the tires blazing, the gas roaring as the fuel line was engulfed. And I could hear screaming. The kind of blood curdling, awful screaming of a man being burned alive.
My radio headset crackled with static, and then Colonel Whitlock’s voice barked out through the speaker. “Fletcher, do not go back inside that vehicle. Do you hear me? Do not go back inside that vehicle.”
Disobeying a direct order from a colonel was an offence worthy of court marshal. I ripped my headset from my ears and threw it to the ground, ignoring it. Ignoring the consequences. Another blood curdling scream reached me, and that was it. I was on my stomach, crawling into the mouth of hell.
My side pressed up against the frame of the window, and pain tore at me, sinking its teeth into my skin. Heat. The heat was overwhelming, so fierce and violent that there was no oxygen inside the truck. Only smoke and confusion. Only death.
“Oscar!” I called out, reaching with both hands, trying to find him. “Where are you, man?” The truck was only a six-guy transport, but the billowing, rolling clouds of black smoke hid everything. I went by touch until I heard him cry out again, weaker this time, voice riddled with agony. He was at the very rear of the truck. A few seconds was all I had. Any longer and I would either suffocate or burn up myself. My head was pounding, my lungs begging for clean air, and I could feel myself start to drift.
The journey to the back of the truck took an eternity. One hand over the other, I pulled myself around an upturned transport box, and jammed my body in between the narrow gap at the right hand side of the vehicle, reaching out, groping, searching, until I found what I was looking for. A leg. A foot, to be precise. I grabbed hold of it and pulled. An agonised yell filled the truck.
“Ahh, my leg. My leg. It’s fucked!”
“I know. I’m sorry, man. I can’t get you any other way.” I gritted my teeth, and I pulled. In any other situation it would have been a crime that I was handling an injured man this way. The clock was running down, though, and if causing more pain, causing even more damage meant the difference between one of my guys being injured or being dead, then I was going to do what I had to do.
I somehow managed to maneuverer myself so that I was over Oscar—I couldn’t even see his face, the smoke was so thick—and then I started shoving. Six hard pushes and I managed to drive him through the gap in the window frame, out onto the desert floor. His body was ripped away, pulled free by someone else, and then he was gone. I was almost too tired to heave myself free, but I scrounged up my last scrap of energy and I crawled forward, determined to make it out before the entire vehicle was enveloped. Halfway out, my fingers clawing in the dirt, my body lit up with pain. Indescribable. Unbearable. A pain so sharp and breathtaking that I couldn’t even cry out. It felt like something was ripping my body in two. I spun around and looked up to see a burning line of fuel pouring down on me, hitting my side, burning into me. I was on fire.
I kicked and jerked myself out of the truck, ripping at my jacket. Tearing at the material, trying to get it off. The fabric seemed to come away in my hands, and then I was shirtless in the cold, cold desert, rolling on the ground, trying to put the flames out.
The world went black. Someone threw something over me, and then hands were beating at my body, slapping and trying to roll me. A strangled gasp worked its way out of my mouth, but that’s all I could manage. The flames were out. The thick, heavy material that had been thrown over me was pulled back, and Crowe stood over me, face covered in soot and grease, eyes the size of dollar coins. I could barely see him properly. Barely hear the words coming out of his mouth.
Colonel Whitlock appeared next to him, and then the sky was filled with the beating thump of helicopter blades. They spoke for a second, and the thundering drum of the helo overhead dipped long enough for me to make out what Crowe said to Whitlock.
“He didn’t stop, sir. He didn’t stop until they were all out.”
Whitlock scowled. “I can see that, Specialist. He disobeyed a direct order in doing so, too.”
“He’ll be reprimanded?” Crowe asked. He was speaking as if I was no longer present; both of them were.
“No,” Whitlock said sternly. “Ironically, I think Captain Fletcher’s more likely to be honored than punished in this particular instance. Now get him on the chopper before I change my mind. The crazy bastard’s bleeding everywhere.”
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Michel’s Review
*** Spoiler Free ***
As a blogger and avid reader I consume over 300 books yearly. I can honestly say that there isn’t much that surprises me at this point. There are only so many plots, subject matters, and themes to be covered. What I look for is the creative flare the author brings to the story. I look for character development, original delivery of the story, descriptive enhancements, and the overall flow of the story. I want to be taken away, entertained, and experience the story right along with the characters. Between Here And The Horizon by Callie Hart had all these elements and more. It was completely original and had two separate stories going on that came together cohesively and made this book even more spectacular.
The moment I began to read this book I was drawn into the world of Captain Fletcher. The vivid descriptions made it feel like I was a bystander witnessing the monumental events unfolding on the pages. I felt the tension, the intensity of the moment, and the fear of the outcome. By the end of the first chapter my mind formed an opinion of how this story was going to unfold. Boy I was I wrong. I am rarely surprised or shocked senseless, but by the time I read a few more chapters I was completely stunned stupid. The shock factor was riveting! I kept thinking …. No No No… this didn’t just happen… No way. Once I accepted that shocking moment my mind fast forwarded and I was thinking, okay Callie Hart is going to fix this. It going to be some kind of mistake or a life changing monumental moment. So I was kind of right… it was a monumental life changing moment. I was also wrong because that monumental life changing moment took the story in a completely different direction. A direction I did not see coming.
Once the story was on a new path, I became enthralled with the new world that sets the scenes. Callie was meticulous with her vivid descriptions of life in the coastal Maine area. Her meticulous attention to details and capturing the stoic New Englanders attitudes validated the direction of the story. It became an integral part of the journey leading all the characters to a better life. At this point the story is on a completely different direction than how it began. Callie then added another brilliant element, snippets of past lives in a time of war. These snippets were important in developing two of the leading characters. The outcome of these snippets tied both stories together and added another twist to the ending.
By the end of the book, everything makes sense in a very different way leaving the readers with different perspectives of each of the characters.
I hung on every single word throughout this book. I could not put it down. When I finished this book I felt like I had just experienced an incredible story that I witnessed first hand, up close and personal. I experienced a multitude of emotions throughout this book.
Between Here And The Horizon by Callie Hart is one of the best books I have read in 2016.
Read Between Here And The Horizon by Callie Hart… it’s an amazing reading experience!
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Meet Callie Hart:
Callie Hart is an obsessive romantic who loves throwing a dark twist into her stories. Her characters are imperfect, flawed individuals who dictate when she eats, sleeps and breathes. Callie’s Internationally Bestselling Blood & Roses series has garnered well over 1000 5 star reviews.
That’s all it took to send my brother’s and my life into a tailspin with no end in sight. I was going to be something. I was going to be the best. I had the Olympics in my sights. And it all went to shit in one flash. Brayden wasn’t ready to raise a younger sister when I was thrown into his lap. He had his life and everything going for him. Thankfully, he was still drafted to his dream hockey team. The same one dad played for when we were growing up.
It took time, but I started to get better, started to open up, started skating and even dating again. I even thought I found the perfect guy for me.
Isn’t it funny how guys hit on you when they know you’re not available, but when you’re single they won’t give you the freaking time of day? I guess the game is more fun that way. And for the captain of my brother’s team, that’s exactly what I was. A hat trick is three goals in hockey. Some say three is a crowd and they might be right.
I was Gavin Hayes’ unobtainable goal.
*A No Cheating Standalone*
Kristen has an amazing Teespring campaign going on RIGHT NOW where 100% of the profits are going to support The Marcie Mazzola Foundation
Hat Trick is the first book I have read by Kristen Hope Mazzola. I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was more than a romance, it was a journey for three people. It was written from each characters POV and flowed beautifully. The romance was a bit fluffy and little rushed, but overall very good.
Hat Trick begins with a brother and sister that survived a scarring childhood. The important thing is that they have each other. Brayden’s life is changing once he became a part of the team although he is still dealing with a lot of anger. Myla was an extraordinary person, she didn’t let the past drag her down. She moved forward in a positive way.
Throughout a one year time frame, Myla and Gavin come together. Gavin has his own issues he is dealing with but Myla helps him put them in perspective. The chemistry between the two in undeniable.
It was interesting to watch three lives begin to unfold and become better.
I will definitely be reading more from Kristen Hope Mazzola.
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About the Author:
I am just an average twenty-something following my dreams. I have a full time “day job” and by night I am an author. I guess you could say that writing is like my super power (I always wanted one of those). I am the lover of wine, sushi, football and the ocean; that is when I am not wrapped up in the literary world.
Please feel free to contact me to chat about my writing, books you think I’d like or just to shoot the, well you know.
A portion of all my royalties are donated to The Marcie Mazzola Foundation.
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Jay Crownover returns with her most complicated hero yet, in the first book in the romantic suspense series The Breaking Point.
Don’t be fooled.
Don’t make excuses for me.
I am not a good man.
I’ve seen things no one should, done things no one should talk about. Honor and conscience have no place in my life. But I’ve fought and I’ve survived. I’ve had to.
The first time I saw her dancing on that seedy stage in that second rate club, I felt my heart pulse for the first time. Keelyn Foster was too young, too vibrant for this place, and I knew in an instant that I would make her mine. But first I had to climb my way to the top. I had to have something more to offer her.
I’m here now, money is no object and I have no equal. Except for her. She’s disappeared. But don’t worry, I will find her and claim her. She will be mine.
Like I said, don’t be fooled. I am not the devil in disguise… I’m the one standing front and center.
Order HONOR in ebook or paperback, releasing 10/18/16
I don’t even know where to begin with this review. Honor by Jay Crownover was more than a novel. It was an exceptional reading experience because of Jay’s commitment to the characters. She dug deep and created a man that was one of the most complicated characters that I have read. He was mysterious, evil, seemingly heartless until the layers were peeled away. Beneath the surface was a severely injured soul that survived a horrific world the only way he knew how, becoming more ruthless, a lot more sinister, embracing the evil world around him and making it his own. Nassir Gates is a survivor. Nassir Gates is a ruler. Nassir Gates owns his world, he owns The Point. Nassir is also a man with vulnerabilities, haunting demons, and a pure love for one woman. He would do anything for this woman. He would give this woman his world. He expects nothing in return. He knows his soul was lost long ago. What shards of his soul that are left belong Keelyn Foster, known as Honor at The Point.
Honor (Keelyn Foster) barely escaped The Point with her life. She left The Point and fled to Denver to create a new life that does not include stripping, violence, or danger lurking in every corner. The problem is The Point is a part of Keelyn just like her genetics are. They are in her blood. She also left behind a man that was the devil himself but her angel in many ways. Nassir Gates owns a part of Keelyn’s soul even though she knows he has the power to completely destroy her.
Nassir lures Keelyn back to The Point with a business proposition. He sees the woman beyond the stripper peddling her sex appeal. He sees a woman of strength. A woman worthy of being his queen. He will patiently wait for Keelyn to recognize the inevitable , she was his the moment he laid eyes on her. Keelyn makes him a better man. She is capable of healing his soul.
I loved everything about this book. Both Nassir and Keelyn are interesting, strong, dynamic characters that command your attention. Their stories aren’t easy but that’s what The Point is about.
Jay Crownover reached deep within herself to create these powerful characters and create a story that’s worthy of their strength. It is her best writing yet because she didn’t hold back or delute the story in any way.
I highly recommend reading Honor after the three books in Welcome To The Point series. This can be read as a stand alone and will still have a powerful effect.
Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men, The Point,and the Saints of Denver series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she’ll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.
Whether it’s a clutch goal or a cocktail, nothing beats “top shelf.” In this novel from the bestselling author of the Heller Brothers Hockey series, a fun-loving jock and an ambitious career woman mix business with pleasure.
Not only is Jared Rupp one of the stars of the NHL’s Chicago Aces, he’s also the owner of the Sin Bin, the after-hours hot spot where the whole team hangs out. Lately, Jared can’t take his eyes off the woman he’s hired to give the Bin a more modern feel: a sexy, sophisticated consultant who has carved out a niche updating drink menus. She’s as passionate about her career as Jared is about hockey—and yet he can’t help wondering what kind of cocktail she really wants.
In her line of work, Sidney Frayne is used to guys hitting on her in bars, but Jared gets her hot enough to burst into flames. When he’s wining and dining her, he’s sophisticated as hell; on the rink, he’s a testosterone-fueled powerhouse. Still, Sidney’s bitter divorce taught her to keep her emotions on ice. With her busy schedule—and Jared’s playboy reputation—she’s not sure she’s ready for a fling. Because if she lets Jared into her bed, she just may have to let him into her heart.
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Michel’s Review
Kelly Jamieson has just released the third novel in the sizzling hot Aces Hockey Series. Top Shelf features NHL player / bar owner Jared Rupp. Jared is a certified player, known for his womanizing. His passions run beyond the bedroom and the ice. Jared’s bar is his baby.
After a chance meeting that leads Jared seeking professional help from Sydney Frayne leads to so much more than a new look. Jared is reluctant to let Sydney Frayne revamp his beloved bar The Sin Bin. Sydney is a pro and good at what she does. She’s aware of Jared’s reputation and ready to prove she means business.
What starts as a strictly business relationship turns into a fun, flirtatious, and sizzling hot romance. Jared and Sydney’s chemistry can melt the ice and burn the bar down.
Kelly Jamieson once again delivered a sexy, fun, and delightful sports romance.
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Kelly Jamieson is
the author of more than thirty contemporary romance novels. She’s a married
mother of two who lives a very ordinary life outside of her imagination. She
likes coffee (black), wine (mostly white), and shoes (high!). She also loves
watching hockey.
No one brings the sexy out in sports like Jaci Burton, the author of the New York Times bestselling Play-by-Play novels. Now, she puts together a holiday hat trick with three novellas featuring the hottest sports around: baseball, hockey, and surfing—because hard bodies are always in season…
Holiday Games
For the high-achieving Elizabeth and her husband, baseball player Gavin Riley, failure is not an option. So when it comes to making a baby, they’re not about to let any holiday distractions get in the way of their necessary pleasures…
Holiday on Ice
It’s the season for giving and superstar hockey player Patrick “Trick” Niemeyer is ready to give dancer Stella Slovinski his heart wrapped up in bow. But he’ll have to melt the ice surrounding her heart to keep her from walking away…
Hot Holiday Nights
Christmas in Hawaii brings sports agent Tori Baldwin two presents: a young surfer at the top of his game and his business manager. But this hot threesome has to decide if the romantic wave they’ve caught is nothing more than a vacation fling, or the kind of love that could change their lives forever…
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Michel’s Review
Are getting ready for the holiday season? Are you jump starting the festive decorating and shopping madness? Here’s another thing to add to your pre holiday to do list. Read Mistletoe Games by Jaci Burton. Nobody does the holiday’s better than Jaci and her teams of hunky professional athletes.
Holiday Games and Holiday On Ice were previously released in the past few holiday seasons. Both these novella’s celebrated the joy of the season, the importance of loved ones, and new beginnings. I thoroughly enjoyed these novella’s and would highly recommend them to readers looking for the holiday spirit.
The latest holiday novella added to the collection, Hot Holiday Nights is exactly as the title implies. Get ready for one hot sports agent spending her holiday with two hunky surfers. This book will make your egg nog boil and icicles melt. This sexy novella allows one woman to live out her fantasies over a holiday break in Hawaii. A sexy Christmas fling is just what Santa ordered.
I highly recommend Mistletoe Games by Jaci Burton to begin the holiday season.
The bestselling author of Heart Breaker returns with another sultry Nashville Nights novel of country hits and stolen kisses, as a one-night stand turns into the beginning of an irresistible partnership.
Shane Hart loves the ladies. Like hit records, he can never have too many. Shane swore long ago never to treat a woman the way his abusive father treated his mother, but his traumatic past has kept him from making any solid commitments—even to a fiery redhead like Avery O’Leery. Shane’s happy enough to rescue her from a tight spot, but that’s as far as their connection goes—until their unforgettable liaison has him rethinking his impulse to love ’em and leave ’em.
Avery has big plans: first, shake the dust of small-town Kentucky from her boots; second, become a bona fide songwriter; and third, keep the truth hidden about her birth father from everyone in Nashville. Nowhere on that list is she supposed to land in bed with a sexy stranger who rescues her off the street at midnight, especially if that stranger is Shane Hart. Avery’s trying not to fall for the dreamy music producer who could make or break her career. But her best-laid plans seem to be no match for a love that feels like destiny.
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Michel’s Review
Erin McCarthy has her mojo back. Dream Maker is the second book in the Nashville Nights series. It is a winner. I liked this book much better than the first book in the series and felt that special blend of magic Erin always puts into her books.
Shane Hart rescues a damsel in distress. The damsel in distress, Avery O’ Leary, was abandoned on the side of the road by her ex boyfriend. Avery came to Nashville as an aspiring songwriter. She also brought her secrets with her. The last thing she wants is to seem like an optunist when music producer Shane Hart rescues her. The problem is that she really likes Shane as a person. She wants to be around this dynamic man.
Shane Hart is a great guy even though he is anti relationship. His childhood left Shane scarred and fearful that he could not live up to commitment. The heart wants what it wants and he is rethinking his views on relationships.
Shane and Avery have undeniable chemistry, the one thing that makes it even better is they both truly like one another. Shane has to get over his issues and Avery has to get over her secret before they can move forward together. They are connected in more ways than a budding friendship.
I truly enjoyed this book and felt the characters come alive off the pages. It wasn’t loaded down with angst and strife. It was a genuine romance.
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USA Today and New York Times Bestselling author Erin McCarthy sold her first book in 2002 and has since written almost fifty novels and novellas in teen fiction, new adult, and adult romance. Erin has a special weakness for New Orleans, tattoos, high-heeled boots, beaches and martinis. She lives in Ohio with her family, two grumpy cats and a socially awkward dog.
Kristen Katsaros wants a life full of adventure and laughter. After a difficult childhood, her motto is to live each day like it’s her last—because it just might be. So when Kristen’s parents send her on a post-grad singles cruise in the Caribbean to meet a Greek husband, she promptly hooks up with the hottest guy she’s ever met. Pasha’s decidedly not Greek, but Kristen gives him a pass because he’s got fun written all over his rock-hard abs.
Pavel Gribov, the cocky playboy of the Detroit Pilots hockey team, can score any girl he wants. But when a teammate drags him on a singles cruise, he can’t resist the chance to help out a drop-dead gorgeous damsel in distress by pretending to be her boyfriend. Before long, the fake fling turns intimate, fueled by something much deeper than lust.
Kristen and Pasha both agree to walk away once the cruise is over, but reality hits like a slap shot when Kristen finds out Pasha lied about everything. Just when she’s ready to start living again, the two stubborn survivors must decide if they can bear to lose the best thing that ever happened to either of them.
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Michel’s Review
After having read all the previous books in The Pilot Hockey Series by Sophia Henry, I can honestly say I did not see this book coming. Like the previous books, this book had a unique, emotional storyline that steps outside of the typical sports themed romance genre. Reader’s were introduced to both the leading characters in the first book, Delayed Penalty. Although they were secondary characters, they each had interesting dynamics to their personalities. Readers were left with some distinct impressions that were definitely misleading once their true personalities are exposed in Unsportsmanlike Conduct. I walked away with a bad impression of Pavel in the first book and fell for him in this book. I didn’t have a lasting impression of Kristen in the first book but walked away from this book with a lot of respect, compassion, and admiration of her character. I admired her inner strength and honest outlook of her life.
Kristen Katsaros has a mantra of making every moment worthwhile. She lives every day like it is her last. She has very validating reasons for living life the way she does. She has dealt with a debilitating disease all of her life. She has to manage her health every moment and be prepared for the worst. Those good moments are the ones that count.
A gift of a cruise from her parents is just what she needed until she finds out that the guy they want her to marry is also on the cruise. She doesn’t need a husband, she needs the freedom to explore all the possibilities her life has to offer. When a gorgeous guy pretends to be her boyfriend throughout the cruise, it makes it a vacation of a lifetime.
What happens on vacation quickly bleeds into the everyday realities of life. Pavel/Pasha and Kristen are connected in more ways than a vacation romance. The realities of Kristen’s life are not going to change Pavel/Pasha’s course. He knows what it takes to go all the way, he’s determined to win Kristen’s complete heart, and will do everything within his power including Unsportsmanlike Conduct.
Although this book had some heavy subject matter, it was still a charming romance. I walked away with a different perspective of the characters. I also walked away with more compassion of those who suffer from CF.
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The Pilot Hockey Series
Delayed Penalty – Book 1
Auden Berezin is used to losing people: her father, her mother, her first love. Now, just when she believes those childhood wounds are finally healing, she loses something else: the soccer scholarship that was her ticket to college. Scrambling to earn tuition money, she’s relieved to find a gig translating for a Russian minor-league hockey player—until she realizes that he’s the same dangerously sexy jerk who propositioned her at the bar the night before.
Equal parts muscle and scar tissue, Aleksandr Varenkov knows about trauma. Maybe that’s what draws him to Auden. He also lost his family too young, and he channeled the pain into his passions: first hockey, then vodka and women. But all that seems to just melt away the instant he kisses Auden and feels a jolt of desire as sudden and surprising as a hard check on the ice.
After everything she’s been through, Auden can’t bring herself to trust any man, let alone a hot-headed puck jockey with a bad reputation. Aleksandr just hopes she’ll give him a chance—long enough to prove he’s finally met the one who makes him want to change.
Beneath her innocent facade, Gabriella Bertucci has her reasons to be standoffish with guys. Especially guys like Landon Taylor, a star defenseman on the minor-league Detroit Pilots and the object of a serious crush since he first walked into her family’s market. But when Landon comes through for her in a moment of crisis, Gaby starts to wonder if there might be more to Landon than hard muscles and fast skates.
Landon isn’t afraid of telling Gaby that he’s got it for her bad. The problem is, she seems unwilling to believe it. And though Landon enjoys his reputation as a cool-headed athlete, he hates losing—both on the rink and off. It’s his competitiveness that makes him so damn good at what he does . . . but it also makes him just a little bit complicated.
One minute Gaby’s tempted to give in; the next, she’s getting cold feet. How can she trust a guy who’s destined for bigger and better things to stick around? Then again, when Landon pulls her close with those powerful arms, the only thing that matters is right now.
Linden Meadows doesn’t back down from anyone, especially if her family’s involved. So when her little brother’s new hockey coach benches him in the middle of a game, Linden lets him have it. She also notices that the coach is way hotter than she expects, but Linden won’t let herself get burned by another athlete. Been there, done that—and had a kid at seventeen to show for it.
When Jason Taylor isn’t taking abuse from hockey moms, he’s patrolling the streets as a member of the Bridgeland PD. After Jason pulls Linden over for speeding, he begins to see that there’s more to her than a big mouth . . . or a lead foot. Their chemistry leads to good company, intense conversation, and an intimacy that pushes beyond the boundaries of friendship. And yet Linden’s decision to keep her now three-year-old son, Holden, is a painful reminder to Jason that his own mother gave him up for adoption.
Linden’s sure she’s found the man to round out their family. But when Holden’s deadbeat dad forces his way back into the picture, Jason starts to back off. He needs time—to heal, to grow, and to love with all his heart.
Sophia Henry, a proud Detroit native, fell in love with reading, writing and hockey all before she became a teenager. She did not, however, fall in love with snow. So after graduating with a BS in English from Central Michigan University, she moved to the warmth of North Carolina for the remainder of her winters.
She spends her days writing books featuring hot, hockey-playing heroes. When she’s not writing, she’s chasing her two high-energy sons, reading, watching her beloved Detroit Red Wings and rocking out at concerts with her husband.
After graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1997 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Lori Otto worked in the billboard industry for ten years. Frustrated with trying to communicate entire messages in “seven seconds or less,” she decided to leave outdoor advertising and return to her love of creative writing.
New York Times and USA Bestselling Author, S. L. Scott, was always interested in the arts. She grew up painting, writing poetry and short stories, and willing her days away lost in a good book and the movies.
About Jay Crownover:
Delayed Penalty – Book 1
Power Play – Book 2
Interference – Book 3
Sophia Henry, a proud Detroit native, fell in love with reading, writing and hockey all before she became a teenager. She did not, however, fall in love with snow. So after graduating with a BS in English from Central Michigan University, she moved to the warmth of North Carolina for the remainder of her winters.
