Saturday, March 4, 2017

"Blush for Me" by Kristen Proby: Blog Tour, Excerpt, Review and Giveaway!

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From New York Times Bestselling author Kristen Proby, comes a steamy new standalone romance in her bestselling Fusion Series…

BLUSH FOR ME!

 
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About BLUSH FOR ME:
New York Times bestselling author Kristen Proby continues to delight the senses with the latest novel in her delectable Fusion series.
As the take-charge wine bar manager of Seduction, Portland's hottest new restaurant, Katrina Meyers is the definition of no-nonsense, and she isn't afraid of anything. Well, almost anything: she hates to fly. When she's forced to travel on a death trap with wings, the turbulence from hell has her reaching for any safe haven—including the incredibly handsome guy sitting next to her.
Ryan "Mac" MacKenzie hasn't been able to get his sexy seatmate out of his head. The way she clung to him stirred something inside him he didn't think existed: tenderness. As the owner of a successful wine touring company, Mac thinks he's got a handle on what life can throw at him and he's not prepared for any surprises, especially in the feelings department. And when he brings a tour into Seduction, he sees the petite spitfire he just can't forget.   Mac is determined to discover what else they have in common besides fine wine and the inability to keep their hands off each other. But what will it take for two stubborn people to realize that what they have is so much more than a hot chemistry between the sheets and to admit to falling in love…?

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Preorder BLUSH FOR ME, fill out this form, and receive an email with the Early Excerpt from Kristen Proby’s EASY MAGIC (Book #5 in her bestselling Boudreaux Series) and an exclusive Seduction restaurant menu after Release Week!

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And Don’t Miss the First Two Novels in the Fusion Series!

LISTEN TO ME CLOSE TO YOU!

BLUSH FOR ME - Tour teaser 2

 

Don't miss all the stops on the BLUSH FOR ME Tour!

Kristen Proby’s BLUSH FOR ME – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:
February 27th
BFD Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
Books,Dreams,Life – Excerpt
East Coast Book Chicks – Review & Excerpt
Happily Ever After – Review
I Love Romance – Review & Excerpt
The Heathers Blog – Review & Excerpt
February 28th
Aaly and The Books – Review & Excerpt
Heather's Book Ramblings – Review & Excerpt
Romance Schmomance – Review & Excerpt
Same Book, Different Review – Review & Excerpt
March 1st
Bridget's Book Bungalow – Review & Excerpt
Emmbooks – Review
IrishdaisylovesRomance – Review & Excerpt
Sizzling Pages Romance Reviews _ Review & Excerpt
March 2nd
Abigail Books Addiction – Review & Excerpt
Book Babes Unite – Review
Krista's Dust Jacket – Review & Excerpt
Melena`s Reviews – Review & Excerpt
Nerdy Soul – Review & Excerpt
Oh My Growing TBR – Review & Excerpt
T & G Book Boutique – Excerpt
March 3rd
BFF Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
I Heart Romance &YA – Review & Excerpt
Lili's books – Review & Excerpt
Marieke's Books – Review & Excerpt
Pervy Ladies Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
Shayna Renee's Spicy Reads – Review & Excerpt
The Readdicts – Excerpt
V's Reads – Review & Excerpt
Wickedcoolflight – Review & Excerpt
March 4th
Bookgasms Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
Cocktails and Books – Review & Excerpt
Gi's Spot Reviews – Review & Excerpt
Reflections Of A Book Geek – Review & Excerpt
Roxy's Reviews – Review & Excerpt
The Reading Belles – Review
What I'm Reading – Review & Excerpt
With Love for Books – Review & Excerpt
March 5th
Book Bitches Blog – Review
Jax's Book Magic – Excerpt
My Girlfriend's Couch – Review & Excerpt
Nose Stuck in a Book – Review & Excerpt
Obsessive Reading Disorder – Review & Excerpt
Reese's Reviews – Review & Excerpt
The Butterfly Reads – Review & Excerpt
March 6th
Books and Tequila – Review & Excerpt
EskieMama& Dragon Lady Reads – Review & Excerpt
Reviews by Tammy and Kim – Review & Excerpt
Ripe For Reader – Review
Sofia Loves Books – Review & Excerpt
Three Girls and a Book Obsession – Review & Excerpt
Wicked Babes Review – Review & Excerpt
March 7th
Book Angel Booktopia – Review & Excerpt
Bookaholics Reading Haven – Review & Excerpt
I'm A Sweet And Sassy Book Whore – Review & Excerpt
Live Read and Breathe – Review & Excerpt
Musings of the Modern Belle – Review & Excerpt
Naughty Girls and Their Books – Review & Excerpt
Shh Moms Reading – Review
The Book Avenue – Review & Excerpt
Two Book Pushers – Review & Excerpt
March 8th
About That Story – Excerpt
Becca the Bibliophile – Review & Excerpt
Books Need TLC – Review
E-Romance News – Excerpt
Once Upon a Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
Renee Entress's Blog – Review & Excerpt
Shannon Loves Books – Review & Excerpt
Under the Covers – Review & Excerpt
March 9th
Blushing babes are up all night – Review & Excerpt
Queenzany – Review & Excerpt
She Hearts Books – Review & Excerpt
The Book Maven – Review & Excerpt
March 10th
G & T's Indie Café – Excerpt
Love Drug Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
Once upon a romance blog – Review & Excerpt
Southern Babes Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
The Smut-Brarians – Review & Excerpt
Theory of A Dreamer – Review & Excerpt
We stole your book boyfriend – Review & Excerpt
 
        BLUSH FOR ME - Tour teaser 1

          Author Pic - Kristen ProbyAbout Kristen Proby:   New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kristen Proby is the author of the bestselling With Me In Seattle and Love Under the Big Sky series. She has a passion for a good love story and strong, humorous characters with a strong sense of loyalty and family. Her men are the alpha type; fiercely protective and a bit bossy, and her ladies are fun, strong, and not afraid to stand up for themselves.   Kristen lives in Montana, where she enjoys coffee, chocolate and sunshine. And naps.            

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BLUSH FOR ME Goodreads ** Kristen Proby Goodreads

Excerpt:

“You look like you’re feeling better.”
 Mac. That’s Mac’s voice in my ear. A shiver runs through me as I turn around and look up, way up, into his green eyes.
 “I am,” I reply and take a sip of my wine. Was he that good looking on the plane? “I didn’t realize you were attending this conference.”
 “You had other things on your mind earlier,” he says smoothly and motions for the bartender. “I’ll have what she’s having, and another for her as well.”
 “What if you don’t like pinot?” I ask and tilt my head to the side.
 “I like it all,” he says with a wink.
 Oh my.
 “Do you know many people here?” he asks, nodding toward Sally who has moved on to chat with another group of people.
 “A few. I’ve not met most of them in person, unless they were up in Washington or Oregon. How about you?”
 “Same,” he says with a grin. “This is my first conference down in Napa Valley. And it’s off to a great start.”
 “Right.” I laugh and shake my head. “Dealing with a crazy chick on the plane is exactly the best way to start your trip.”
 “It is,” he says and looks me dead in the eye. “She wasn’t that crazy. She was scared. There’s a difference.”
 “Well, she’s fine now.”
 “I’m glad.” His lips tip up into a smile and my stomach clenches. He has a dimple in his left cheek. 
 I want to lick it.
 I take a sip of my fresh glass of wine and smirk to myself. Perhaps Mac fits the sexcation bill.
 “What just went through that gorgeous head of yours?”
 “I’m not drunk enough to tell you yet,” I reply honestly. Mac’s eyes widen briefly, and then he simply smiles at me.
 “There’s a lot of wine in this place.”
 “Thank God for that.”
 A few hours later, after chatting with many people, new and those I already know, including Mac, he escorts me up to my room.
 Sexcation.
 But when we reach my door, he leans in and kisses my cheek. Just the cheek. I frown up at him.
 “This is supposed to be a sexcation, not a fucking dating game.” It’s a grumble, but I’m shocked to hear it actually leave my lips, rather than stay in my head where it’s supposed to be. 
 “A what?” Mac asks.
 “Nothing.” I shake my head and pull my key card out of my handbag. “Good night.”
 “Kat?”
 “Yeah.” I look back at him and sigh a little at the sexy dimple in his cheek and the way his shirt pulls against his shoulders as he leans on the doorframe. 
 “I’ll see you in the morning.”
 “It’s already morning,” I remind him.
 “It won’t be too long, then.”

Many thanks to the publisher via InkslingerPR for the free review copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is a fairly new author for me - I have only read one other book by Kristen Proby, and it was the first book in this series. As soon as I finished "Listen to Me", however, I was definitely in for the rest! The idea of five young women going into business together to open a trendy new restaurant was appealing to me. Each girl is unique in her own way, and brings her own talent or specialty to the business, so after watching Addie and Jake fall in love, I was more than ready to see who would capture Kat's attention!

Kat is that sassy, feisty redhead we all wish we had for a best friend. Loyal to the end, she'll tell it like it is and is a bit of a ballbuster! I really enjoyed her attitude and sense of style. She's more than your average bartender, though, being that she has an aptitude for wine and is some sort of certified genius. All part and parcel of what makes her so cool, in my honest opinion.  She hasn't been in a relationship for quite some time, however, so who will be the perfect man for her? Well, why not start with a man she meets at a wine tasting conference?  Actually, Kat first meets Mac seated beside her on a plane to Napa Valley for said conference. He soothes her through a major panic attack, and although they part ways in the airport, through the magic of fiction, they meet again at the wine tasting tour.  Must be kismet!

From here we get to see them start up a fling, for lack of a better word. They are both in Napa Valley for the week, so why not have some no-strings-attached fun? This is mutually agreed upon, as well as the fact that once the week is over, the fling will also be over. They try to keep things light and noncommittal, but come on! The chemistry between them is smokin' hot! This kind of connection, is this really the type of thing you just throw away after a week?

Well, both Kat and Mac try to forget about the other once their time in paradise is up, but eventually, contact is made and a more serious relationship is initiated - yay! I liked that there wasn't a whole lot of angst between these two, except a little bit in the beginning when Kat thought Mac was lying to her about who he really was. Fortunately, Kat was quick to realize she was wrong, and from there, they both fell hard and fast, but in a very believable way.

I also liked that the conflict in this story was due more to external factors, for example, Kat's and Mac's families, rather than a lack of communication between the two of them. So many times in contemporary romance novels, I want to yell at the characters and say, "Just talk to each other, dammit!" For the most part, in "Blush for Me", Kat and Mac had pretty decent communication between each other, so that was great.

There were, however, a few plot elements I didn't love, including one that occurred very near the end. I don't want to reveal too much for fear of spoiling things, but I thought this whole circumstance felt forced and was resolved way too quickly and neatly. There was also a bar scene near the end that I didn't really like. I'm not sure what purpose it served except to show that Kat knows how to throw a punch and is a loyal friend. However, the behaviour displayed by both parties involved in the conflict was a bit extreme and did not really endear me to the owners of Seduction the way it was supposed to.     

I also wanted a bit more background info on both Kat and Mac. For example, why did Mac find himself steered towards the wine business? There was a little bit of explanation, but no real passion behind any of it. Why did Mac like to call the shots in the bedroom? Was it something to do with his past? I have no clue. What was the significance of Kat's tattoos? Mac asked her about them, but she  said something rather dismissive like, "They're personal." Why did Kat dress like a 50's pinup? Did she love the attention, or was she an old soul, believing she'd been born in the wrong decade? People don't dress that way without a reason, and I wanted to learn Kat's reason but never did. 

All in all, this was a great read, with never a dull moment, lots of action, and steam galore. I'm not so patiently waiting to borrow the second book in this series, "Close to You", from my online library, and I will definitely be reading the other two Seduction owners' stories when they come out, too. If you love contemporary romance and you haven't read any of Kristen Proby's titles, you better get on that because she is certainly an author to watch!

My rating:


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