Happy Release Day! Losers Weepers (Lost & Found #4) by @NWilliamsBooks Nicole Williams!

Losers Weepers

Lost & Found #4

by Nicole Williams

NA Contemporary Romance

Publication Date: February 24, 2015

Synopsis via Goodreads:

If we didn’t know darkness, we couldn’t fully appreciate the light.

Garth Black’s more familiar with this concept than most people are. He hadn’t just lived in the dark for the majority of his life—he thrived in it. With a mom who’d bailed on him and a dad whose understanding of coddling started and ended with a bottle of whiskey, Garth had never been expected to rise to any sort of occasion other than following down the same dead-end paths.

That changed when he fell in love with Josie Gibson. After years of pulling each other closer before shoving the other way, they finally stopped shoving. Josie’s love is like nothing Garth’s ever experienced. He holds it close. He holds it sacred. He would do anything to preserve it and keep it from pollution, even if that means removing himself from the picture.

Garth might have been allowed a temporary furlough to bask in the light, but that pass has been revoked, and he’s been swallowed again by the dark. Will he revert to his old ways of hurting those he cares for most? Will he go back to the same destructive patterns . . . or will it be worse this time?

We can’t know light without first knowing dark . . . and Garth Black’s about to get acquainted with the dark in a whole new way.

 

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Links Coming Soon

I'm a wife, a mom, a writer. I started writing because I loved it and I'm still writing because I love it. I write young adult because I still believe in true love, kindred spirits, and happy endings. Here's to staying young at heart *raises champagne glass* . . . care to join me?

Nicole loves hearing from her readers. You can contact her at nwilliamsbooks@gmail.com.

Connect with Nicole:   Facebook   Goodreads   Twitter    Blog 

Author Spotlight! @AuthorLilaFelix

Author Spotlight

Lila Felix!

It's been a while since I've blogged to just blog... so today I'm doing something I should've done months ago but didn't seem to have the chance to. I'm doing a spotlight on an author that's from my own home state! Lila Felix! I love this girl! If you haven't read anything by Lila yet, you must go pick one or more books by her now! Right now... I'll wait.... waiting.... Okay, if you can't do it right now, I'll leave you some links below so you can do that in a while. But really... You have to. :) 

So who is Lila?

 

I am a stay at home mom from the South and wife to the most giving and hard working husband ever.  I love to cook and try out new recipes even if they don't always turn out like I want them to.  I refer to my kids lovingly as the Three Stooges as they are constantly coming up with new ways to reek havoc in the house.  Most recently that included putting a rubberband on the kitchen sink sprayer so it would douse me when I did the dishes.  I love to go to roller derby bouts and read in my spare time.  I write mostly at night when the house is silent and I can sneak cookies without having to share!  If you're into stalking, try under the Cypress trees in the swamps of Louisiana, but watch out for gators!!

Connect with Lila:   Pinterest  Facebook   Twitter   Goodreads   Website   Blog    Amazon Author Page

 Alrighty, now that you know a little bit about her, I'm going to tell you about some of her work!I'm selfishly going to start with my favorite LF novel.

    Colby Evans can leap from one country to the next in a heartbeat. She can see every sunset in every time zone in the same day. She can travel across the world in a flash. She defies gravity and physics with every breath she takes. She’s tested her abilities and found them limitless.
   She is the lightning. She is Lucent. And nothing can stop her.
   Except him.
   Theodore Ramsey isn’t supposed to be able to flash like Colby. The power of travel is passed on from mother to daughter in their people. Except once in every hundred generations.
   Theo is the one.
   He can flash like Colby. And it makes him a target to their enemies and to himself. His abilities change everything he knows about life and throws his future into an uncertain tangent. In fact, the only thing certain in his life is the love he feels for Colby.
   Their love defies time and space and has been the only constant thing in their lives since childhood. But even their infallible love will be stretched to its limits.
   She will risk her life to protect him. But he will risk everything to protect them all.

GOODREADS     AMAZON     B&N  

Her life is just as messed up as her name.

All she wanted was a friend---one that knew her and not her circumstances. She needed somewhere to call home. Hers was an open door for countless men looking for the services her mother offered them. She camouflaged herself against lockers and blackboards to avoid the stares and whispers at school.

And then she found Cal...and Fade.

Cal lives like Frankenstein, rising at night to work and just trying to make it until dawn. He avoids most relationships, afraid of the things he will be asked to do. He moonlights as Fade, a radio station DJ who spends hours counseling his peers on their troubles. It was all mundane until Jocelyn called the station.

Cal and Havok pursue a friendship.

Jocelyn and Fade pursue a relationship beyond the confines of the radio waves.

But when Havok disappears, Cal will find that Havok has been guarding a lifetime worth of secrets. And when Fade and Jocelyn’s all night phone conversations cease, he finds a link between them he never saw coming.

GOODREADS     AMAZON    

Number ten is plastered on his team jersey and on his ego. In his own mind, Crown Sterling is the shit. He dates the prettiest women, he dominates on the soccer field, he pours money out of his pockets like it’s water. Until a debilitating knee injury puts him out of commission on and off the field. He’s sent to an isolated town in Louisiana to recoup, undergo physical therapy and heal. But it’s when you’re down that you find out who your real friends are, and what they value in you, if anything at all.

All Lyra wants out of life is peace and quiet. She grew up with a regular, everyday family. When she turned sixteen, rummaging through her grandmother’s hope chest in the attic, she discovered a secret that would turn her simple, normal life into a ball of chaos that revolved around her. But while she seems to face her fears head on in her career, she lives a life that’s secure and well hidden.

A new neighbor moved in next door and he’s decided that everyone needs to listen to his rap music, shattering Lyra’s quiet existence. Enraged, she stomps to the next townhouse over and who should open the door but a man whose good looks and charming smile knock her breathless.

How good looking? Just ask him.

How charming? He’ll tell you that too.

The king must be dethroned.

And a small town girl who’s been through hell is just the one to do it.

GOODREADS     AMAZON     B&N  

There are skeletons in every closet. Some stay quiet—and some rule your soul with an iron fist.

Ezra is ruled by the ghosts of his past—and needled by the guilt they create. Not only does he have to manage his own guilt—his friends are forced to bear the weight as well. He lives in limbo, never dreaming of anything that lies beyond the grave.
In his mind, he’s a murderer, pure and simple.

Hide and seek is Aysa’s game. She begs for small spaces and empty places. But, she secretly desires so much more.
When they find each other, a hope for something new is sprung.
But Ezra’s skeletons are out for blood.

“I hide shock well. I’m a pro at hiding. I have no idea that whatever he had to tell me would be so personal—so heartbreaking. But, I quickly remembered that heartbreak was all around him every time he turned around. He needs no more empathy or sympathy in his life. He craves someone to give him a different take on a tired situation.
And different is practically my middle name.”

GOODREADS     AMAZON     B&N  

She's spent a long time in a bubble. In an odd turn of events, Corinne is taken out of boarding school and plunged into high school where bullies reign and nice guys come in last.

But this is after she's already fallen in love with Abel over the summer.

Abel is trapped, with friends he secretly hates, but has chosen to stay with the status quo. It's just high school, right?

What do you do when the person you love sees the very worst part of you? And how do you help them when they discover their life is a hoax?

GOODREADS     AMAZON     B&N  

Love and Skate
How It Rolls
Down 'N' Derby
Caught In A Jam
False Start

    On the rink she’s tough, she’s a leader, she’s fast and she’s the epitome of a rebellious girl. But Nellie’s been hurt, only once, but it was enough to make her look at life through different eyes and off the rink she’s a timid girl who loves with no pretenses.
     A long time ago Owen Black was betrayed by the girl he thought he loved and the guy he called his best friend. The anguish set off a domino effect of negativity in his life and he never has fully recovered. He meets Nellie Forrester and thinks he can let it go for her.
     But how can you love someone when the wounds from your past are still wide open?


   Despite the odds, Reed Wolfe is making it, by the skin of her teeth. Her dreams and aspirations will have to wait until she can get on her feet. Because right now she’s homeless and churning on a downward spiral.
   Falcon Black is existing. Not living, not thriving, just jutting along a path. But when he finds Reed, he can’t resist the urge to help her, lighten her load. But Falcon tends to go overboard, over the line, crossing boundaries he never thought he would and risking her trust in the process.  
   Can she accept his love or will it end up smothering her?


   Maddox is running.
   By accident, he discovered long ago that he was adopted as a baby and his need to find his biological father has consumed him ever since. Now, on a road trip, determined to find his father and his sanity, and armed with locations and his cousin, Nixon, to help him, maybe he can find the answers he’s been searching for. With nothing but a suitcase and a wad of cash to get him there, lead after lead takes him further from home.
   But he’ll find much more than he intended.
   He finds Storey, a pint sized pin-up model who has learned painful lessons about guys. Her wounds run deep, but so do his. She knows what she wants, but will she recognize it when it’s right in front of her?
   Maddox can’t touch anyone without feeling like his skin is crawling, but just maybe his instinct to protect this amazing girl will supersede his own hang-ups.
   If he can brush her skin and start to feel alive inside...everything will change.


   I’ve loved her since we were kids. But loving someone gets tough when they don’t love you back.
   Nixon Black has made mistakes. He made one mistake that would change his life forever. Now he’s working and in school—and he’s got a three year old. He gave up dating when Scout was born, but every night he retreats to another life in his mind, one he could’ve had with her.
   Journey spent her formative years on the arm of any boy that didn’t expect anything out of her. She was hiding from the one person who did expect something in return—Nixon. Years after being cheated on and dumped for the last time, she takes a job at a daycare center where there’s a genius of a ginger haired girl whose last name is Black.
   But the roles have been reversed and Journey is no longer Nixon’s first priority. Can he make room for the new Journey? And when he does, will he be able to forgive the old one? 

   Rex has firsthand knowledge of how love can rip a person to shreds. How it can swallow a person whole, leaving them gasping for air, and dying a lonely person. He watched his mother give everything she had to his father and then she died, too weak and frail to continue on. His father, the deranged man who could barely feed himself—taking care of him left a permanent crease on Rex's heart. He swears he can still hear his pleas for help in his sleep. Nothing can give him solace from the painful memories.
   Except this girl.
   Hayes is a constant and consistent optimist. She's witnessed her mother and father’s almost perfect marriage and taken it as an example of what she wants. But she can’t seem to find a guy who is sincere. She’s dated them all— snake-in-the-grass jerks, straight-up commitment-phobes, fakes and phonies alike. They all fit her perfect dream on the outside, but when the relationship gets to the nitty gritty, they all crumble like stale bread.
Unable to find a better man, she settles for nothing instead, wondering if a man who treats her right could even exist. With perfect parents and a team name like I Kilda Girl, that man would have a lot to live up to.
   Until this boy.
   When she sees a rugged, tattooed guy who shows up at all the derby bouts, she wonders if chasing the bad boy might just be right.

GOODREADS     AMAZON     B&N  

Is this everything by Lila?

 NOOOOO! There's so many more goodies by Lila! You'll have to check them all out! Hop over to her Amazon Author Page or her blog's Suggested Reading Order List to see her entire list of novels!

Review: Temper for You (For You Series #3) by @GennaRulon

Temper For You

For You Series, book #3

By Genna Rulon

"Life is messy. Love is messier." -Catch and Release

Temper For You

For You Series, book #3

By Genna Rulon

"Life is messy. Love is messier." -Catch and Release

Meg Adeio has led a life of isolation—not by choice, by necessity—until one act of heroism forces her out of seclusion. Despite a past shrouded in mystery, Meg is “adopted” by an eclectic group of friends that become the family she never had. Life was good for the first time in…ever.

Or it was until Westly Black reappeared on her doorstep. She knew he was the last man any woman should give her time to—only good for one thing—yet a temptation no woman could deny. Wes might make her life messy, but Meg’s eyes were wide open and she had it under control.  At least she thought she did.

When past and present collide, loyalties are tested, forcing Meg to sacrifice her future to protect those she loves.

Temper For You is a gripping story of regret, deception, and redemption – filled with raw emotion, sarcastic wit, intrigue, and love’s propensity to forgive.


• Though Temper For You is a final book of the For You Series, it can be read as a stand-alone
• This story is appropriate for readers 18+

www.goodreads.com/book/show/19305363-temper-for-you

Grab Your Copy:

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 Genna Rulon is an up and coming contemporary romance author.

During her 15 years in the corporate world, Genna, inspired by her love of reading, fantasized about penning her own stories. Encouraged by her favorite authors, many of whom are indie writers and self-published, she committed to pursuing her aspirations of writing her own novels.

Genna was raised in Long Island, New York, where she still resides, surrounded by the most amazing family and friends. Married to a wonderful man, who patiently tolerates her ramblings about whichever book she is currently working on, even feigning interest relatively convincingly! Genna is blessed with two little boys who do their best to thwart mommy's writing time with their hilarious antics and charming extrapolations.

You can find Genna online at: www.gennarulon.com
Be sure to join the mailing list for updates about future books, as well as giveaways, and other fun facts. 

Social Media

Facebook:      facebook.com/genna.rulon.author  

Amazon:        amazon.com/Genna-Rulon/e/B00FOUJXPY  

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Twitter:           twitter.com/gennarulon

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Genna Rulon worked her magic with this third installment of the series. Even though it's said you can read this one as a standalone, I wouldn't recommend doing so. The author keeps her previous characters as supporting characters and continues their story as the series progresses. I think you'll love the characters and be able to relate with them more if you've read their own stories too.

This story followed Meg & Wes. I have to admit that this was probably my favorite plot of the series so far. Meg's life is far, far darker than we ever imagined. The author does a great job of keeping you guessing at what exactly IS Meg's history until well into the book. I liked that about this novel. Now Wes... I have to admit that I didn't like him for the longest time. I couldn't find the appeal with him until well into the novel. Normally, it's the guys that keep me reading when it comes to series about a guy & a girl... this time it was Meg who kept me reading. I was drawn to her.

This book seemed to miss a little something as compared to the other two. I'm not quite sure what it was but it was a spark of sorts. Maybe it's because I wasn't a huge fan of Wes that held me back a bit.

Overall, huge 4 stars for me. I'll continue to read anything this author puts out!

Overall Rating: 4 Stars

Cover Rating: 3 Stars

Characters: 3.5 Stars

Plot: 4 Stars

Climax: 4 Stars

Ending: 4 Stars

 

Review: The Loyal Heart by Merry Farmer

The Loyal Heart is the first book in Merry Farmer's fun, sexy, and very knightly Noble Hearts series. 

"...This is a really entertaining book with love, lust, action, intrigue, humour, stress, happiness and sadness and is well worth taking the time out of your day to read." - Lindsay and Jane’s Views and Reviews

About The Loyal Heart

Lady Aubrey has a problem. Several problems. Her childhood love, Ethan, has returned home from the Crusades, but he’s more interested in winning his land back than wooing her. She has to rescue a pair of nuns who are being held prisoner in Derby Castle’s tower by the sadistic Sheriff Buxton. And to top it all off, she’s developing scandalous feelings for Buxton’s lackey, the dark and devilish Crispin. Faced with all that what’s a girl to do but don her disguise as the Derbywood Bandit and take matters into her own hands? Sir Crispin is at his wit’s end. Not only does he have his hands full keeping Buxton from killing half the shire, now his arch nemesis, the Derbywood Bandit, has joined forces with his old rival, Ethan. And that’s nothing compared to the burning torch he carries for his ex-fiancé, Lady Aubrey. He would do anything to win Aubrey’s love … … until he suspects that there could be a closer connection between Aubrey and the Derbywood Bandit than anyone has guessed. Genre classification: Medieval Historical Romance

The Loyal Heart is available exclusively on on Amazon.

Add The Loyal Heart to your Goodreads to-read shelf!

 

 

 

Merry Farmer is an award-winning author of Historical Romance and what she likes to call “Sci-Fi for Women.” She lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats and enough story ideas to keep her writing until she’s 132. Her second novel, The Faithful Heart, was a 2102 RONE Award finalist and her unpublished futuristic novel A Man’s World won first place in the Novel: Character category at the 2013 Philadelphia Writer’s Conference. She is out to prove that you can make a living as a self-published author and to help others to do the same. Find Merry Farmer on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon Author Page.

Ethan paced in front of the cell door, waiting for the opportunity to put their plan in motion.  It came quickly.  When he heard the noise and leaned up against the door Jack leapt into action, Tom behind him.  Ethan pressed his face against the bars as hard as he could and tried to see what had caused the guards to get up.  He heard voices but couldn’t see a thing.  He thought he heard a crunch and a thump.  Then his eyes widened and he whipped around to Jack.

“They’re coming!”  He took two steps towards the man, made a fist, and pounded him hard across the jaw.

Jack’s neck twisted with the force of the blow and he staggered to keep his balance.  “Oy!” he shouted, holding the side of his face with an irate frown.  “What the bloody hell was that for?”

“To make it look like a fight!” Ethan explained, bursting with energy.

“Yeah, but I thought I would hit you!”  To prove his point Jack threw a hard punch at Ethan.

Ethan dodged just enough to let the blow land without doing any damage.  “Get off me, you cur!” he shouted, glancing over his shoulder at the door.

“I’ll cur you!” Jack made a run at Ethan.

Ethan was set to grapple with Jack when the door to the cell flew open to reveal Aubrey looking like a wild warrior.  “Aubrey?” he barely had enough time to say before Jack crashed into him shoulder first.  Jack expected Ethan to counterbalance and when he didn’t they toppled full force to the floor in the doorway with a thud that knocked the wind out of both of them.

Aubrey didn’t miss a beat.  She tossed her dagger in the air to change her grip, slammed her foot into Jack’s shoulder, and when that pushed him off of Ethan, she lunged at him with full force.  She planted her right foot on the back of his knees and grabbed his ginger hair. When she squatted he was forced to bend backwards, spine stretched over her leg near to the breaking point.  Her dagger was cold against his throat before anyone had a clue what was going on.

“Aubrey stop!” Ethan shouted as he recovered.

Jack was ready to soil himself.  “I didn’t do it, I swear!”

“Stop,” Ethan repeated, eyes wide.  “He’s a friend.”

Aubrey blinked at the shocked man whose spine she was about to snap.  “Really?” she arched an eyebrow.  “Any reason why he was attacking you?”

“It was part of the plan.”  There was something about the fire in her eyes that made his throat tighten and a grin play at the corners of his mouth.

“Yeah, the plan!” Jack stammered.  “Someone please tell her about the plan!”  Aubrey glanced to Ethan and when she saw the sparkle in his eyes she loosened her grip on Jack and stepped away.  Jack collapsed, legs sprawling, and squeezed his eyes shut.  When he opened them and glanced up to Aubrey’s beautiful face his eyes danced to a grin and he winked.  “Well, that would’a beat hangin’ any day.”

 

 The Loyal Heart started off with a bang for me but then fell flat for quite a while. I generally love historical romances but this one just wasn't quite it for me. It definitely follows along the Robin Hood tale (not sure if that was quite intentional but it seems it would be).

I enjoyed the spunk of Aubrey, adored Jack (by far my favorite character in the novel), and really liked Crispin once we learned his true nature. I wasn't a huge fan of the other characters though. Of course, Ethan... blah. I didn't like him from the get-go.

Anyways... overall, it just went on and on and on and on and on and on and on.... you get the point here. I had to push myself to continue reading for a while but once we get to the point in the plot where we see Crispin is actually the good guy... it took back off for me.

At that point, I became a bit more invested in the story & the outcomes of the characters. The characters you thought were the good guys during the first half of the novel are flipped to the bad guys. I did like that part of the plot but I wish we wouldn't have wasted so much time to get to that point.

So overall, for me, I liked this novel but I didn't just fawn over it. Now, give me a story about just Crispin & Jack... I think I'd love that! Those two characters truly made this novel worth reading for me. If it wasn't for those two characters, I don't think I'd have even finished this one.

Overall Rating: 3 Stars
Cover Rating: 2 Stars <-- for some reason, historical novel covers never quite do it for me
Characters: 3 Stars
Plot: 3 Stars
Climax: 4 Stars
Ending: 4 Stars